BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71
Kang Hyeon smiled with satisfaction after thoroughly beating up Kergo.
“A can of beer would be perfect right about now. Don’t you think so?”
“…”
Kergo, whose entire body was swollen with bruises, couldn’t say anything.
Of course, even if he had answered, Kang Hyeon wouldn’t have understood anyway.
“But that technique you used earlier. What exactly was it? Was it really a skill? No. It was somehow subtly different from a skill.”
As Kang Hyeon became more sensitive to magic, he realized something.
There was something oddly awkward about the movement of magic when using skills.
Although he couldn’t explain it precisely yet, Kang Hyeon had always thought something was off.
“But that technique that guy used had none of that awkwardness.”
In contrast, Kergo’s technique felt very natural.
It felt like the magic itself was exerting all of its inherent power without putting strain on the body.
Kang Hyeon was curious about where this difference came from.
“Magic, magic…”
Suddenly, an idea struck Kang Hyeon.
“Couldn’t I do that too?”
Kang Hyeon’s talent and sense for combat were, at best, average.
However, magic was different.
He still hadn’t seen anyone who could sense magic as sensitively as he could.
Kang Hyeon felt like he might be able to do it somehow.
“Right. I shouldn’t have been clinging to swordsmanship that I’m not even good at. The next goal is that technique.”
Kang Hyeon gazed at Kergo with eyes full of passion.
“Keurk…?”
“So, I’m counting on you, teacher.”
Although he couldn’t understand, Kergo was certain.
That the gates of hell had opened once again.
***
Ippotranslation
***
One week later.
Kang Hyeon entered the guild office, exuding an ominous aura.
“Have you been well?”
“Mr. Kang Hyeon. You’re here.”
Shin Seong-a and the guild members greeted Kang Hyeon, who had appeared after a long time.
“Um, Guild Master…”
Han Jae-moon, who had been working on one side, approached Kang Hyeon.
“What?”
“Well… Team Leader Shin Tae-gil came to the guild asking why he couldn’t contact you.”
“Ah, I was a bit busy. If he came in person, is it something important?”
“Yes. Well…”
“Just a moment.”
Han Jae-moon tried to say something, but Kang Hyeon stopped him.
“We’ll talk about that later. There’s something more important right now.”
Kang Hyeon looked around the office.
“Where’s An Yu-seong?”
“I’m here.”
An Yu-seong raised his hand from a corner in response to Kang Hyeon’s call.
“Have you been well?”
“Of course. The market response to the newly released Mega Muscle Kang Hyeon in the Naked Kang Hyeon series has been good lately. The hardcore fan base is very solid.”
“I see. Figurines… Nice. Heheh.”
Kang Hyeon chuckled like a deranged person.
“Let’s have a match.”
“Are you confident?”
“Are you kidding me? Don’t ask the obvious.”
“Kang Hyeon. You look tired right now.”
“Worry about yourself, man.”
“I’m fine with it. I just came up with a new design anyway, so this is perfect.”
An Yu-seong also chuckled at the thought of releasing a new figurine.
“Know that today I’m going to kill you and smash all those disgusting figurines.”
“Disgusting? Isn’t that too harsh? They’re works with my artistic soul in them.”
“Shut up and follow me.”
Kang Hyeon and An Yu-seong headed to a nearby training ground for ability users.
“Whew…”
After the first day, they no longer fought on the building’s rooftop.
Not only because of complaints from people on other floors, but also because the roof might collapse if they weren’t careful.
“Hey, hey. They’re here again.”
“Looking completely battered again today.”
“Maybe he just didn’t wash up since he’ll be covered in blood anyway when it’s over.”
“Could be.”
“But you know, about Kang Hyeon. Seeing him get beaten every day, the rumors seem exaggerated.”
At that moment.
The eyes of the whispering ability users met Kang Hyeon’s.
“Kuhek!”
The ability users unknowingly gasped.
‘How can his eyes be so fierce…’
Unable to maintain eye contact, they quietly turned their heads away.
“Are you ready?”
Having dealt with the nuisances, Kang Hyeon stretched.
“The rules are the same.”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll begin.”
As soon as the words fell, Kang Hyeon rushed forward at full speed.
“Has anything really changed?”
An Yu-seong smiled wryly at the strategy that seemed no different from before.
“You’ll find out when we clash.”
Kang Hyeon and An Yu-seong’s swords became entangled in a flurry.
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged dozens of attacks and defenses.
Each of those attacks contained enough power and technique to take down any ordinary ability user in a single blow.
“As expected, nothing special.”
But for these two, this was just everyday life.
Kang Hyeon’s sword skills seemed to have improved a bit, but that was all.
The gap in combat sense between An Yu-seong and Kang Hyeon couldn’t be bridged by just that much.
“I’ll end this now. I should finish quickly and get back to designing figurines.”
An Yu-seong swung his sword with a bored expression.
-Chaeng!
A simple swing.
But with that, An Yu-seong disrupted Kang Hyeon’s center of gravity and stole his timing.
‘Now Kang Hyeon will struggle to regain balance, and I’ll finish him off.’
And then he’ll place the sword at the fallen Kang Hyeon’s neck.
These actions might seem very simple, but everything was meticulously calculated to be fatal to the opponent.
Just as An Yu-seong was about to deliver the final blow to Kang Hyeon.
“Huh?”
“Had enough fun?”
At that moment, something burst out roughly from Kang Hyeon’s body.
An Yu-seong immediately realized it was magic.
“Uh, uh? Kang Hyeon, you’re not supposed to use skills.”
“This isn’t a skill, kid!”
The magic that emerged from Kang Hyeon’s body quickly became visible and gathered into his sword.
The sword imbued with magic began to emit a bluish light.
‘Oh no!’
An Yu-seong’s instincts rang out strongly.
That attack was not something to be taken lightly.
An Yu-seong, who had been swinging his sword, hastily pulled his body back.
“Too late!”
But from the start, Kang Hyeon’s physical specs were superior.
He couldn’t escape from Kang Hyeon by stepping back.
Kang Hyeon’s sword strike drew a blue line.
In the end, An Yu-seong had no choice but to swing his sword to defend.
-Kwang!
When Kang Hyeon’s sword and An Yu-seong’s sword collided, an explosion occurred.
At the sudden loud noise, surrounding gazes gathered, and they saw An Yu-seong fallen on the ground.
“Kang Hyeon. This is cheating, isn’t it? Haha…”
An Yu-seong laughed helplessly as he looked at Kang Hyeon’s sword pointed at his neck. The sword he had been holding was completely shattered and scattered on the floor.
“What is?”
“Did you learn a new skill this time?”
“Skill my ass. I told you, it’s an ability I acquired through practice. Ability. Don’t you know? It’s in the status window.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Do I look like someone who would tell such a lie without any pride? Do you know how hard I worked to master this?”
“Sigh, alright.”
In fact, An Yu-seong also knew that Kang Hyeon hadn’t used a skill.
‘The movement of magic is different.’
Although he couldn’t sense magic completely like Kang Hyeon, An Yu-seong could perceive the flow of magic to some extent with the help of his instincts.
‘It feels unrefined and rough. Did he control the magic arbitrarily?’
Usually, when using a skill, it feels like the magic moves along a predetermined route at the moment of activation.
However, what Kang Hyeon just used felt like he completely ignored that and controlled the magic solely with his will.
“Kang Hyeon. That’s not complete yet, right?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
The original goal was to have strong cutting power like Kergo.
But Kang Hyeon’s magic control wasn’t that precise yet.
In the end, by cramming and clumping the magic together before swinging, it resulted in a strong magic explosion.
“Still, do you know how much I struggled to do this?”
“You must have really hated selling figurines.”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?”
An Yu-seong had always known that Kang Hyeon had an excellent sense for magic.
But he never imagined that he could move magic arbitrarily, not as a skill.
“As expected, you’re interesting, Kang Hyeon. Hehehe.”
“What are you saying? You crazy bastard.”
Kang Hyeon put away his sword with a relieved expression.
“Fuck! I won!”
Kang Hyeon shouted so loudly that the training ground shook. Then he immediately collapsed onto the floor.
“Ugh… My head’s splitting.”
Controlling magic at will required tremendous concentration.
Moving magic when he was already tired made his whole body feel like it was ringing.
-Woo woo woo
“Kang Hyeon. Aren’t you going to answer your phone?”
“Huh?”
Kang Hyeon scratched his head and took out his smartphone.
“Ahem, so it really was my phone ringing.”
Checking the screen, Shin Tae-gil’s name was displayed.
“Hello.”
-Yes. Kang Hyeon. It’s been a while.
Shin Tae-gil’s voice, sounding more tired than usual, came through the phone.
“What’s the matter?”
-It’s an important matter.
“That’s what you always say.”
-Sigh, I don’t have the energy for jokes. Are you free tomorrow?
“Tomorrow? I’m free.”
-Then please come to the conference room where we had the strategy meeting last time.
“Why there again?”
-Haven’t you been watching the news lately?
He hadn’t.
He had been so obsessed with swords and magic for a while that he didn’t have the capacity to pay attention to such things.
“News?”
-The whole world is talking about it, but you’re quite carefree, Kang Hyeon.
“Well, I am a bit of a pacifist.”
There was a moment of silence after Kang Hyeon’s words.
“What? If you have a complaint, say it.”
-I’ll see you tomorrow at 2 PM.
Shin Tae-gil ended the call with those words.
***
Ippotranslation
***
World Dungeon Management Organization.
Specifically, the headquarters of the Korean branch.
On the 11th floor, there is a large conference room.
It was his first visit since the ‘C-rank Dungeon Strategy Meeting’, but Kang Hyeon found his way to the conference room quite easily.
-Click
As he opened the door and entered, he saw people already seated.
Some faces were quite familiar, while others were new.
“You’re here.”
Shin Tae-gil, standing in front, bowed his head slightly in greeting.
“I’m not late this time, right?”
“Yes. You arrived exactly 1 minute early.”
“Whew… That’s a relief.”
“Didn’t I ask you to come at least 5 minutes early?”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff and let’s quickly…”
As Kang Hyeon was speaking, someone tapped his shoulder.
“Let me pass for a moment.”
Turning his head at the familiar voice, he saw Park Ho-yeon, the guild master of Fire Dragon.
“What’s this? There’s someone later than me, so why are you complaining?”
Kang Hyeon said with a frown.
Park Ho-yeon raised his eyebrows for a moment but quickly lowered his eyes again.
“I don’t particularly want to pick a fight, so let’s stop there. I just want to pass by quietly.”
“You’ve got some nerve. Is this a default option for major guild masters?”
Honestly, after the dungeon conquest, Kang Hyeon had completely lost interest in the Fire Dragon Guild and Park Ho-yeon.
He thought they would collapse on their own, but he didn’t expect them to still be robust enough to attend such meetings.
“Both of you, that’s enough. The meeting is about to start.”
At Shin Tae-gil’s words, Kang Hyeon made way.
Park Ho-yeon entered his seat quietly without saying a word.
It was a slightly different attitude from before when he showed an arrogant demeanor regardless of time and place.
“Now everyone’s here.”
Finally, all members of the Special Ability User Management Team were gathered.
“Since everyone here is busy, I’ll get straight to the point.”
Shin Tae-gil continued with a serious expression as he looked around at them.