Chapter 52: I Must Win (4)

"I will launch… attack now."

She said with a clumsy tone of voice.

Wi Gunak charged towards me.

'She's fast.'

Wi Gunak was coming at me like a bullet.

With a force that seemed to warp the space around her.

"It might hurt a bit."

"It doesn't seem like it's that serious yet?"

Wi Gunak swung her fist toward my face.

The attack she went with was infinitely simple.

Basically, she just clenched her fist and launched it quickly.

But that's why it's bothersome.

Simplicity means it's fast and strong.

There is no need for fancy techniques when that is the technique itself.

A clumsy attempt would just get me blown away by that fist.

Simplicity is an unfathomable trait that's hard to grasp.

She seems to be twice as strong since we last fought.

I also charged forward.

Wi Gunak clenched her fist.

And then, she charged for a punch again.

I bent my waist straight away.

Whoosh!!

There was the sound of cutting through the wind. I dodged the attack, but my senses warned me that it was not over yet.

I activated the Wind God's Steps.

Acceleration. In an instant, my body sped up rapidly.

And then, I burrowed into the embrace of Wi Gunak.

Wi Gunak did not panic.

The space inside was being refracted as if wearing the power of the Mysterious, like armor.

'Her transition has sped up too.'

Then, it's time to test her strength.

Kwoong.

I took a stance. The ground cracks like a spider web, stretchingly.

And then, I activated the Frost Palm martial art.

A bluish light formed in my right hand, and Moonlight settled on top of it.

I stretched out my right hand.

Kagagak!

A sound as if something was being gnawed on arose, followed by a freezing sound.

'So the Mysterious is not immune to freezing.'

I learned one fact.

That attribute attacks work against the Mysterious.

As the Mysterious was affected by my attack, Wi Gunak's expression changed to an urgent look.

'How will you react?'

The worst strategy is to run away.

The middle strategy is to defend at a minimum.

And the best strategy is.

"Huh!!"

Clad in the Mysterious, Wi Gunak charged towards me.

Her surroundings and even the environment began to distort.

'That's it.'

If you respond to the opponent's attack with defense, it's already too late.

Then, you must be prepared to get hurt and attack.

However.

'She doesn't look happy with her choice.'

Unfortunately, her opponent was me.

She chose the best strategy, but I knew how to use Wind God's Steps.

Seizing the initiative, I moved right behind Wi Gunak and quickly dodged the attack.

The energy of the Mysterious followed, but.

Pabat.

I quickly placed my hand on Wi Gunak's head.

'You still can't control it properly.'

The power hesitated and then tried to switch back to defense.

"Wait… Ah!"

I slammed Wi Gunak's head onto the ground just like that.

At the same time, a knee kick.

Kwaang!!

With a tremendous explosion, the mysterious barrier surrounding Wi Gunak began to break.

And then, her head hit the ground again.

Koong!

Then Wi Gunak completely fell.

Having brought her down, I turned my gaze to one side.

"Wow… You really took them all down."

Yoo Eunchae approached me, feigning nonchalance.

She was holding a sword instead of wielding magic.

'What's this?'

I couldn't make a hasty judgment.

The way she held the sword was quite impressive.

It reminded me of Nam Hyerin, and in some ways, it was similar to Seon Woohyeon.

'Strange.'

I roughly know her traits.

They were normally used alongside Double Bombardment or Brilliant Blazing Fire.

Her traits shouldn't exceed 20 at most, on top of the typical six main traits.

'They seem useful in the early stages.'

Yoo Eunchae wouldn't have set those up without thought.

So a possibility is that those traits get better later on.

No, not even that.

As Yoo Eunchae said, the rank change of a trait is only by one level.

So then.

'Can she alter traits? Or, can she infinitely store traits?'

It can't be the latter.

Her power is complete, and I feel like a bit more would cause her vessel to overflow.

'So.'

It must be some sort of trait exchange.

"How does it feel?"

"What does?"

"Harassing weak students?"

"If they're the same age as me, it's their fault for not training properly."

"Ugh."

Having nothing to say, Yoo Eunchae was flustered.

"No, that's true. But looking at the teacher, it seems like you're not our age…"

"Are you saying I'm old? You look even older when it comes to looks…"

"No, at this age, you'd call it mature!"

"That's what people with old faces say. They claim their faces are mature."

"Ha…"

Whether genuinely angry or not, Yoo Eunchae glared at me.

But the fear shined through her eyes.

"So, are we done stalling for time?"

"…Did you notice?"

"Well, it was pretty obvious."

I walked towards Yoo Eunchae.

"So, are you ready now?"

"Yes, I'm prepared."

Yoo Eunchae held the sword at an angle.

It's a sword technique I had never seen before.

However, her stance was quite good.

'She must have learned something decent.'

Having received my training the longest and most properly.

The most progress was visible through her.

'But that doesn't mean.'

Yoo Eunchae might not be the strongest.

"Meteor Sword."

Yoo Eunchae quietly chanted, causing a milky white light to wrap around the sword.

Magical power surges explosively from her toward her sword. After that, Yoo Eunchae pointed her sword at me.

'She's the type to decide the battle in one go.'

Her stance is specialized in quick, decisive battles.

Starting from the hand gripping her sword to her gaze, her stance said it all: If you block this, I admit defeat; if you don't, I win.

I didn't expect to see the foolishness I saw from my first life here.

'It would be simple to dodge.'

But that wouldn't look cool.

And I didn't want to dodge it either.

"Come at me."

"I was going to anyway!"

As Yoo Eunchae started running, a whitish power enveloped her.

Like a meteor falling to the ground.

It stretched out a tail and launched at me.

'Frost Palm martial art.'

Moonlight.

Initially, this would have been enough. But my senses warn me. It's dangerous.

In that case.

'Eternal Moonlight.'

Moonlight that seemed to swallow everything bloomed from my hand. On the other hand, there is Frost Palm martial art.

Creak.

From my heart, Heavenly Glacier supplied an enormous amount of magical power.

Ice Realm.

I focused on the spreading Ice Realm into my hand.

Threads of blue light began to wrap around my hand.

'This is the maximum I can do right now.'

I looked ahead. A long, white light was stretching towards me.

I reached out my hand.

My hand collided with the Meteor Sword.

Crash!!

An enormous sound clashed.

Immediately after, shockwaves scattered in all directions. The white light disappeared, and within it, Yoo Eunchae was visible.

Yoo Eunchae was smiling.

"I thought you could block it."

"Sigh."

I ended up sighing.

I didn't know my ability could go this far.

The power of white light that had emerged from what was called the Meteor Sword.

It was once again infusing Yoo Eunchae with strength.

"Trait, it's called the [Once Again] trait."

"Really?"

"So once again, Meteor Sword…"

A swirl of white energy enveloped Yoo Eunchae.

I gave a smile.

"Remember this well. The opponent won't wait for your attack."

"Eh."

I moved my legs. Entwining around Yoo Eunchae's legs. And then I tripped her.

"Wait, just a moment! But the Meteor Sword should activate…"

"It's okay."

I looked into the Meteor Sword with my Heavenly Eyes.

A trait that seems really good for a one-hit kill.

But that's not its true essence.

'Well, I'll teach that later.'

I began to decipher the power called Meteor Sword. And then, I infused my mana into it.

'For something like this, if you slip up even once, there's no alternative.'

But it's still a good trait.

Because it's complete, the caster only needs to infuse mana.

"If, if we keep going like this, it… It'll go berserk…"

"That won't happen."

I smacked Yoo Eunchae's cheek with my fist.

"I've already solved it."

"Crazy, overpowered character…"

"Thanks for the compliment."

"Wow, it's been a while since I've had a good workout."

"Trash! How could you punch a delicate woman like me in the face!"

"Do villains give mercy? It hurt my heart, but I had no choice but to do it."

I made a sorrowful face.

So, Yoo Eunchae flinched and then got angry again.

"No, is it right to beat someone up mercilessly like this?"

"But you've become stronger, haven't you?"

"…"

Seemingly at a loss for words, Yoo Eunchae shut her mouth. I smirked and said,

"Still, you did well today. Everyone, go home and rest up. I'll be holding an advanced class the day after tomorrow, so bring this with you tomorrow."

"What is it?"

"A will."

"...A will?"

"Yes."

My words took Yoo Eunchae aback.

"It's a joke. It's for deciding on a profession."

"Ah, like a career counseling form."

"Right. The school asked today where you guys are planning to go for your careers."

Honestly, I don't think that's very important.

Since most of them aim to be heroes.

But as soon as I saw the paper, I knew that wasn't all.

'There was something quite interesting caught in it.'

The paper already determined whether they would become a hero or a villain.

Perhaps it was made by 'filtering' through their traits.

Faintly sleeping mana.

The method of imprinting it is very tricky. If someone on the level of a clan leader didn't step in, they wouldn't be able to detect it.

It must mean that even the academy has at least a minimum filter.

"Hehehe…"

At my words, Yoo Eunchae gave a sly laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I laughed thinking about a teacher who will have a hard day tomorrow."

"…?"

Why would conducting a survey be hard?

When looked at with such eyes, Yoo Eunchae responded with her eyes, saying it's a secret for tomorrow.

'The kids' characters aren't that rotten.'

Ridiculous.

I regretted the thought I had yesterday.

All the students I was in charge of chose to be heroes.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem.

But the issue was that these kids wrote too extensively about their future.

"So...you want to become the future ruler of the underworld."

"That's right."

Abel nodded to my words as if that was the correct answer.

'No… How is a ruler of the underworld a hero?'

Thinking that and looking at him, Abel sighed deeply.

"Oh dear. You don't understand my intentions."

"…"

I didn't want to understand that meaning.

And next was Wi Gunak.

"Yes, your dream is…"

"To destroy the Wi family."

"Other than that…"

"Killing the head of the Wi family?"

"…"

Next was Shin Yura.

"My dream is to become a great mage."

"I see. But your dream is…"

"To become a magic princess who controls magic, making all the other family heads kneel before me?"

"…Yes, Yura, I think you can do it."

"Thank you, teacher."

And then it was Yoo Seolrang.

"Honestly, isn't Magic Shin Clan just too awful?"

"Is that so? But Seolrang, your dream is…"

"To become a good wife and wise mother?"

"Good wife and wise mother, that's good. I also think it's a good dream. But what's in front of that is…"

"Capturing a ruined husband to marry him and then living a life being swindled by him?"

"Do you really need to openly display your sexual preferences like this?"

"As you know, teacher, I kind of lack presence. So, I thought maybe this way I could…"

"…Alright, I get it."

Next was Seo Boram.

"I will turn Korea into a militaristic state."

"Militaristic…what?"

"The president should obviously be the strongest person. That's the only way for Korea to stand upright…"

"…"

Following was Jo Gaeun.

Today's fashion was somewhat decent.

With her usual bizarre outfits, she looked like a landmine girl.

"What is it?"

"Teacher, I have a concern."

"What is it? Is it about destroying a dark organization?"

"Can you destroy it?"

"Never mind that. So, what is it?"

"I want to become a grim reaper."

"Grim…reaper, what?"

"A grim reaper, grim reaper. You don't understand that either?"

Damn, how am I supposed to understand that?

"Being a goddess of death is also fine."

I briefly recalled the Shadow Jo Clan I had seen.

I've been thinking about it since last time.

'Aren't all the children of the Five Great Families' heads complete failures in cultivation?'

It was indeed a reasonable doubt.