Chapter 73 – Battle Of Bases (2)

A vast scar appears on the ground as a dust cloud rises at the blade’s passing.

“W-what is that mad man!”

“I don’t know. What kind of bastard attacks so suddenly!”

“I almost died! I already stayed up all night and am feeling annoyed!”

“Ugh! What… stop! That guy, it is him! Sword Spirit!”

“That psychopath?”

The rumbling of the crowd became louder.

“Do not get in my way and get out because I will cut all of you down.”

It was none other than Chun Yuseong. He was angry and had cold eyes, a very expected expression.

Chun Yuseong, who had devoted himself to training, received a message early in the morning.

[Come to the 4th-floor entrance in an hour.]

Jin-hyuk had sent it.

‘Funny.’

Chun Yuseong frowned at the message.

There was no reason for him to come out here. His training was already lacking if he wanted to overcome the monster in front of him.

So he ignored the message. And another message came in.

[If you come now, I will duel with you without a left arm and right leg as a handicap.]
He needed to hold himself back even at this provocation.

It was just a childish attempt.

Once he gets caught, it would be like falling for an opponent’s cheap tricks.

[Right. Then I’ll just use my right brain and close both eyes to fight. Okay?]
Be… patient.

Be patient.

Hold back that anger and use it as a basis for getting revenge next time. If he waited, the chance would surely come.

[Okay? Ah, that looks right. Don’t worry. I won’t bother you despite you having your tail between your legs.]
And with that.

The last string of his reason was cut.

… kill him!

He had to kill Jin-hyuk.

Chun Yuseong was provoked, left everything behind, and headed to the 4th floor.

And right now.

He could see the culprit.

“Uh? You are here? Here!”

Jin-hyuk waved his hand. He thought he was going to die waiting for the last piece.

Anyways, he should have kept his sense of time right, at least.

“You…!”

Chun Yuseong held his sword out.

It wasn’t his normal sword but a new sword with runes engraved on it.

‘As expected, he got it.’

Elemental Sword.

It wasn’t complete yet, but it was a special item that could compensate for a swordsman’s weakness in long-distance battle by injecting elemental magic into their weapon.

Jin-hyuk smiled.

Although he was strong enough to be acknowledged by everyone, he was someone who continually pursued his own level.

That meant it was easy to predict his next growth target.

“I am here to prove whether I am scared or not.”

Chun Yuseong grabbed the sword with both hands.

Kukuku!

Due to the sharply focused magic, even the ground began to shake.

This man was unstoppable.

“It is good to prove it, but to fight with an unfinished sword…”

At Jin-hyuk’s words, Chun Yuseong became stiff.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it literally. The Elemental Sword is definitely not bad, but it needs to be completed before the power can be fully shown.”

“…”

“At the end of the day, the A-grade random box from this floor also contains an item that can complete the Elemental Sword. What you want is the fire element, right?”

“Nonsense! A random box is random! There is no way to know what comes from it!”

“Right. You cannot get a glimpse of what is inside a random box in a normal manner.”

But…

“I prefer the unusual shortcuts. You know?”

Jin-hyuk smiled while Chun Yuseong bit his lips.

If anyone else had said this, he wouldn’t even care, but this man was someone who was an exception to everything.

If it was Jin-hyuk, he might really be able to peek into everything.

“If you are right. Then you mean you will use me as bait?”

“Isn’t life all about using each other for personal gains? Besides, there is nothing you would lose, right?”

Better items are needed to get stronger.

There was no such thing as easy growth. But there were cases where items simply brought rankers to the upper tiers.

Finally,

“… damn it. there must be material in a random box to complete the sword,”

Srng!

Chun Yuseong placed his sword back into its sheath.

Nice.

There were a lot of ups and downs, but five people had gathered here, even if one of them was highly suspicious of the one whose aims were vague.

[Party of 5 has been formed]
[The minimum number of people to defend the base has been met]
Five players, including Jin-hyuk, headed to the stadium.

“…”

“Hmm. Hmm”

Lee Taemin and Yoo Yeon-hwa glanced at Chun Yuseong.

Wasn’t this the bastard who would pull out a sword when people just make eye contact with him?

Being on the same team made them feel anxious.

“Mr. Jin-hyuk. Is this really fine?”

Teresa, who had met Chun Yuseong in the Corridor of the Fallen, was equally anxious.

“It is fine. There’s a surprisingly docile side of that guy, even if he looks like that. He won’t stab us in the back of the head as long as the wave keeps coming.”

“Still…”

“Trust me.”

He had fought the guy the most, so he understood what kind of person he was. He knew Chun Yuseong wasn’t the type to stab someone in the back.

Maybe…

… maybe.

It was then.

“Ah, right, oppa. I almost forgot, take this.”

As if something crossed her mind, Yoo Yeon-hwa opened her subspace and soon took out an unusual pair of swords.

It was the Twin Dragon Swords.

“Ohh!”

As expected.

It was a relic of the past, but it was said to be of comparable quality to relics from inside the tower.

That wasn’t an exaggeration.

Because it felt like his heart would sink by just touching them.

“Grandfather asked me to give you. But really, this is something grandfather loved too much. How did you manage to get it?”

“I just did. He thought it would look good on me.”

Jin-hyuk frowned slightly. There was no need to talk about all that right now.

That was because he was focusing entirely on the defense that was right in front of him. While the team continued to chat slightly…

“We are here. This is our base.”

Eventually, they reached the entrance.

“Ha! Five people blocking this huge place.”

“I remember when we blocked the Outbreak in Amsterdam. I never wanted to go through such a thing again.”

Yoo Yeon-hwa and Teresa sighed.

“Why are the two strong women so nervous?”

“W-what! Still, being with you, I feel relieved.”

“Me too. Somehow if I am with Mr. Jin-hyuk, no matter how desperate the situation is, I think something can be done.”

“Nothing good will come from buttering me up.”

“I was just telling the truth.”

“You attacked the Corridor alone. I saw it myself.”

What was with these people? Did they want something more?

Well, it wasn’t a bad feeling to be praised.

At least, these were people he trusted.

In a world that had changed like this, it wasn’t common to have someone you could trust.

Tring!

Braham’s Ring trembled.

‘Right. I can trust you too.’

Jin-hyuk, who felt Elise’s anger, smiled. Contrary to her appearance, she was the type to get jealous easily.

This was a 180-degree change from the image she had shown in her palace. It only made him want to tease her more.

It was then…

“Hm. Who occupied the stadium? Koreans?”

An unfamiliar voice.

A man with tightly pulled hair and tattoos all over his body appeared from under the buildings.

“Oppa!”

“Hyung, that man erased his presence!”

“… Mr. Jin-hyuk!”

All three of them shouted at once.

Right, he knew that too.

A few minutes ago, he had sensed that a group was closing in, so he wondered how they would come out. In the end, they only showed themselves after they got back to the base.

It seemed like this man had the skills to hide his presence.

“Chinese players?”

Jin-hyuk asked.

One of the larger guilds, Triad, was a place where people with nasty rumors around them gathered.

But the young man leading them had a different atmosphere from the others.

“Are you Kang Jin-hyuk?”

An Asian man with a white face and dark hair asked him.

His was an average appearance that no one would look at twice if they passed him on the street.

But what caught his eye was the sword and the pattern engraved on it.

Jin-hyuk frowned.

That text…

Was no doubt…

‘Namgung family.’

One of the members of Murim on the 25th floor of Tower of Trials.

‘Is it true that the Chinese players and the dwellers got into contact?’

This was the moment that Yoo Chun-young’s words were validated.

“I am asking if you are Kang Jin-hyuk.”

“Yes. I am him.”

“As expected. I am Namgung Hyun. Unlike a lowly nation like yours, I belong to China which has a large amount of land…”

The man who had continued to talk gradually became silent as the opponent covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

“What are you doing now?”

“Ah, sorry, your nation is drenched in fine dust. We were worried it would come out of your mouth when you spoke about it.”

It was understandable that his skin was white.

The sky was obscured with dust, so how could sunlight pass through?

“This… what did this bastard say!”

Namgung Hyun’s face turned red.

He was angry.

The first one to get angry was the loser.

“You bastard. Do you know who I am! If you dare look down on this family of mine, I will destroy the family of yours! I will crush you! Do not speak such bullshit, you human. You fucking 3rd-rate warrior.”

Jin-hyuk spoke the words that he knew the other person would say in advance.

Even if it weren’t exactly those words, it was something he would say.

“But is there any pride in your family?”

Once the Heavenly Demon rose, everyone there would start crawling like bugs.

Besides, it hadn’t even been 20 years since the Namgung family had selected their next lord.

He didn’t know what it was, but for this guy to act like this was as if he alone moved using a time machine.

“You… you!”

“Shh. Don’t speak too much. Even a spit from you will cause trouble to the world.’

“Ack!’

In the end, Namgung Hyun couldn’t control himself.