Chapter 47 – Press Conference (2)

‘From behind…!’

It was a ranged attack!

Jin-hyuk reflexively moved his body as a red flash of light appeared.

Kwang!

A large crater appeared at the spot where Jin-hyuk had just been.

“How dare…. You make Do-hyun like that? Do you know how much work I put into this day?”

Hong Deok-pyo shouted from his seat in the audience. His cherished young talent was supposed to be the hero of this day. Instead, he had lost his hidden card and was made to kneel down in front of a newbie.

Hong Deok-pyo, who had turned white, grunted.

At the same time, terrifying energy rose from Hong Deok-pyo’s body.

Kukuku!

Magic was causing the entire floor to shake.

Ho.

After all, S rank was S rank, right?

However, unlike the other players, his magic management was quite good. There was markedly less waste of magic.

Although he lacked actual usage sense, he was someone who could grow if he trained well for 3 years.

Jin-hyuk activated the Eye of Truth again.

—

Name: Hong Deok-pyo
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Level: 34
Strength 38 Agility 33 Stamina 20 Magic 15
Stat Points: 1
Coins: 25,850
Occupation: Berserker
Unique Ability: Blood Demon Qi
Skills: Lv5 Frenzy, Lv5 Blood Coagulation, Lv4 Strengthen Whole Body, Lv4 Identify Enemy, Lv4 Decapitate
—

[Copy Condition: Take away what Hong Deok-pyo values the most. If you do that, you can copy the unique ability.]
After reading the copy conditions, Jin-hyuk felt his heart beat quickly.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

That’s right, this excitement from the sensation of Fusion. To use the abilities that other people had worked so hard to get.

‘If it is his most precious thing…’

It was pretty obvious. He already knew the answer.

Jin-hyuk opened his mouth again.

“I know you are angry, but can we not put the fight aside?”

“Why? Are you afraid now?”

“No, I am afraid that if someone who is a Guild Master gets smashed in front of so many people, it will be offensive.”

“T-this fucking bastard! I will crush you down to your bones!”

Hong Deok-pyo kicked off from the ground.

Kwang!

The chairs he had sat on were smashed as he appeared near Jin-hyuk instantly. He could see red energy swirling around a 2-meter-long sword.

This was a different sword technique. Blood Demon Qi.

A heterogeneous ability that used blood spurted out.

[Unique ability ‘Sword Grave’ is activated!]
Jin-hyuk, too infused magic into his sword.

Psss!

Sword energy gushed out from his blade once more as he lowered his center of gravity. And at that very moment.

Kwang!

Two energies collided.

Dark red sparks bounced in all directions.

Kwakwakwang!

The ground began to crack, creating a pattern similar to spider webs.

“Oh!”

“As expected of Guild Master Hong? This magic. Just looking at it gives me chills.”

“Look at the energy on the sword. I’ve only ever seen it in a video. Who knew we would see it in real life?”

The reporters were all shocked. However, as the battle continued, a strange feeling settled among the crowd.

Something was odd.

It was the female reporter who realized the strangeness.

“When I see that Guild Master Hong is using magic like this… just how is that man holding up on the other side?”

As she asked this question, the other reporters came to a realization.

It really was happening.

Even though Hong Deok-pyo was using his trademark skills.

“I-is that so?”

“I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize it!”

“Oh my. I knew he was great, but on par with an S class?”

In their eyes, Jin-hyuk seemed to have similar skills as Hong Deok-pyo.

Of course.

The two who were fighting weren’t of the same level.

At least those who shared their swords were in a state of mixed joy due to this battle.

“Kuak!”

Hong Deok-pyo frowned. It was because he was the one being pushed back.

One-sidedly at that.

‘No… he is stronger than me?’

Such nonsense.

He was the man who had stopped the breath of the monster Colossus on the 2nd floor. He, who was the proud leader of the tower’s right-wing raid team, was being pushed by some F-rank newbie?

It was impossible.

But.

The sharp pain in his shoulder and wrist proved that he was weaker.

“Isn’t it hard already? If it is really hard, should I take it easy?”

Jin-hyuk fixed his sword path with light movements.

“Don’t make… me laugh. I haven’t even used all my skills yet.”

“How come your voice is trembling despite such brave words?”

“…”

Hong Deok-pyo closed his lips tightly.

No matter how strong he was, he should already know that the end result would be bad if this continued.

However, if he tucked in his tail now, he would be disgraced in front of everyone here.

That would be a situation that could not be undone.

At that moment.

Kiik!

The door that led to the room opened.

[Han Sang-jin Lv4 Arbitration activated.]
A power to calm the excitement inside.

It was a skill possessed by Han Sang-jin, the President of the Korea Awakened Association.

“President!”

“What? Wasn’t it known that he wouldn’t be attending the event?”

“Look there!”

At the entrance was a middle-aged man in a black suit.

Jin-hyuk frowned.

‘Is this the man who leads the awakened people?’

A middle-aged man with a sharp beard and not a fake this time.

The atmosphere around him felt like he was a man with responsibility.

“President Han Sang-jin! You came! This man turned a player of our guild into rags! A prospective AAA rank!”

Hong Deok-pyo shouted.

However, the man responded to the complaint with a broad smile.

“Haha. Well. It can be like that when you compete, Guild Master Hong, please understand.”

“Uh?”

“It isn’t some child’s fight. Ah, I am a little busy at the moment, so if you can, please excuse me.”

“W-wait a moment…!’

Hong Deok-pyo wanted to shout, but the man ignored him and walked to Jin-hyuk.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kang Jin-hyuk. I am Han Sang-jin, in charge of the Korea Awakened Association.”

“Do you know me?”

“Actually, I didn’t know about you until 20 minutes ago. But then I got an urgent call from Manager Park, who is in charge of this event, that said that I had to come and see this for myself.”

Of course, since there was effectively a riot, the news must have been delivered to Han Sang-jin. Unexpected surprises had happened here.

“So we did an investigation on our side… the past ranking of Mr. Kang Jin-hyuk was checked. What should I say? There was something special about it.”

Han Sang-jin said.

Right.

The reporters all gulped.

Finally, the reason why Jin-hyuk, who was ranked F despite being strong, was about to be revealed.

“Congratulations on receiving Korea’s 16th S class. And I would like to take this chance and apologize for you receiving the wrong rank due to our mistake.”

It wasn’t a long conversation, but the contents were shocking.

“Huh?!”

“S… S rank?”

“Is that person S rank?”

“Oh my… we’re seeing a new S class?”

“It was natural for the A rank players to have a hard time. They were no match!”

The reporters all began to exclaim in shock. Right, that was how it should be.

This was a world where 6 million Korean people had taken the test. It was the result of the Awakened Association successfully operating 32 branches. The result had only yielded 15 S-class players.

Moreover, considering that most of the people who took the test were in their 20s to 40s, it meant that all of the prominent S-class newbies were from Korea.

Camera flashes began to fill the air.

“Take a picture!”

“Kang Jin-hyuk. Right. He is Kang Jin-hyuk. I just heard his name!”

“Get the reporters first. The details need to be told. We need to release this article!”

“Call all the people in the press conference right here. What? Interview with the Black Cloud Guild? Huh! Does that matter now? We have an S class! Throw away that and come for this!”

All the attention was on Jin-hyuk. With cheers and applause, everyone in the event room celebrated the birth of a new S class.

“T-this… what fucking…”

Hong Deok-pyo’s expression contorted.

“Kua… Kuak!”

Jong Do-hyun was filled with hatred.

‘Damn it, but we have to rectify this situation.’

Hong Deok-pyo wiped the sweat off his head.

This felt like someone was pouring molten iron down his throat.

“W-wait! Reporters! Actually, this time our Black Cloud Guild has prepared to attack the tower, and I can tell you in advance the special…!”

“Ah. We apologize. We will come back for an interview.”

“I will always support Guild Master Hong, and what? AAA rank player? Sure it is amazing!”

“T… haha. Next time we will definitely catch you up on the story. I just don’t feel that good now.”

Even the few reporters that had lagged behind rushed for Jin-hyuk.

In just 3 hours, many things had changed.

[Korea’s 16th S class]

[The extra strong newbie that the President of the Awakened Association came to personally notify.]

[Love calls are pouring in from the large-scale guilds. What will the next move of Mr. Kang Jin-hyuk be?]

Amidst the news which kept coming in, the media covered stories about Jin-hyuk.

This wasn’t a bad feeling.

Most of all, he liked the S class announcement that was made exactly as he wanted.

Jin-hyuk smiled at the videos being uploaded.

[True Education of those who were ignorant of the S class.]
This was a video of him smashing Jong Do-hyun.

Ironically, the video’s number of views was almost the same as the video that announced his S class.

-Illumination: but isn’t it a bit too much to cough blood after just one hit?
-pplmost1124: Yep. To be honest, even a regular Korean soldier can handle being hit in the stomach.
-Wasabitfavlortoothpaste: No. After seeing that, I asked my nuna to hit me, and when I woke up, it was the next day.
-YasuoCarry: Your nuna has to be an S ranker too. Hahaha!
The reaction was hot.

The Black Cloud Guild must have suffered a fatal blow with this incident.

‘You reap what you sow, so this is your own doing.’

As long as he could copy those two’s unique abilities and skills, he had no interest in going around and destroying guilds.

Puak…!

Jin-hyuk buried his back into the soft chair. The corners of his lips rose up in a smile.

As expected.

Being first class was great.

‘This is why everyone is trying for a higher rank.’

With the special attention given by the Association President Han Sang-jin, Jin-hyuk was able to get a free flight trip to Las Vegas.

It was also a first-class seat which cost over 10 million won one way.

He had an invitation to the black market from Chun Yuseong, and he agreed to take care of the matters in Korea with Lee Taemin.

All he had to do now was relax and focus on his work in America.

But it was just as he settled in.

[The man in front of you… be careful.]
Elise, who had been silent in the ring, spoke for the first time.