Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 67
Siwoo, walking down the empty corridor, stopped.
Room 811.
Lee Yura.
Though it should have been cleared out, the nameplate still remained.
Siwoo slowly uncurled the fist he had been clenching.
On his palm lay a crumpled ointment tube.
Whooosh...
A cold night air flowed in from somewhere.
The wind, carrying the moonlight, brushed his cheek.
'That Young Master can express when he dislikes something, I think that's truly a relief.'
...Grandpa.
Was that really true?
Was it really a relief?
He didn't know anymore.
Could it be that expressing dislike was merely childish stubbornness?
That thought occurred to him.
Could that stubbornness have pushed Grandpa, Jehwi, Eunha, to the brink?
Should he have actually lived by complying, without being stubborn?
Was it actually all his fault?
Questions he posed to himself.
And endless doubts.
'Protecting? You're protecting her?'
A derisive laugh brushed past his ears.
Siwoo, clutching the ointment in his palm, closed his eyes.
Where did I try to hide?
Whom did I try to protect?
Could it be that I was just hiding behind someone's back, doing nothing, solely trying to protect 'myself'?
Foolishly.
'Now.'
Clench.
Clenching his fist again, Siwoo slowly opened his closed eyes.
His blue eyes no longer wavered.
Wolf-owned Seoul Outdoor Training Ground. PM 9:52
"Is it over already?"
The Singaporean A+ Class hunter, world ranking 72, 'Commander', muttered dryly in the center of the training ground.
His ability was summoning and manipulation.
He was a hunter who fought by summoning human-shaped armored soldiers.
The maximum number of armored soldiers he could summon simultaneously was one thousand.
It was the largest number among hunters with summoning abilities.
Thanks to that, he was also a hunter on the verge of an S-Class promotion.
He hadn't expected to summon his maximum here, but the conclusion was his victory.
To think that the talent Wolf, Korea's top guild, was secretly nurturing was only this much, it was a bit underwhelming.
"This won't be needed anymore either."
Commander reached for the badge attached to his left chest.
It was a convenient item provided by Wolf with a translation function, but if the opponent was down, it was no longer useful.
But then.
Commander, about to remove the badge, paused.
Something was strange.
Clang—!
A sharp sound was heard.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
Before he could even turn his head towards the source, the unidentified sound continued ceaselessly.
Soon, Commander realized.
They were freezing.
All one thousand of his summoned armored soldiers, sequentially.
"—"
Crash!
A frozen armored soldier collapsed to the ground, shattering like porcelain.
While staring blankly at the scene, someone slowly rose from among the falling armored soldiers.
"..."
A veil of pure white brilliance draped across the sky.
Beneath it, a white shadow slowly lengthened.
Baekrang (White Wolf).
The howl of a wolf, imbued with cold, brushed past his ears.
An auditory hallucination, perhaps an incantation.
As Siwoo lifted the palm he had pressed against the ground, crackle, white ice powder fell from its surface.
Impossible.
Did he freeze so many entities at once through the ground?
Though he thought it impossible, Commander found himself unconsciously backing away.
And belatedly, he realized another fact.
That the path he was retreating on had, unnoticed, turned into a slippery sheet of ice.
Sssssshhh...
A chill enveloped his entire body.
Thump, thump—
Siwoo slowly walked towards him.
And Commander retreated by the same distance.
'Damn it.'
The moment Commander, with nowhere left to retreat, grit his teeth—
Kugugugugu—!
The ground began to vibrate violently.
He had mustered his last strength to summon another armored soldier.
Creeak, creeeak...
A soldier, as massive as ten combined, appeared with black smoke.
Commander, hiding his hand behind his back so Siwoo couldn't see, clenched his fist.
Then,
Whoosh!
The giant soldier, mimicking Commander's movement, snatched Siwoo with one hand.
Like catching a fly with one's hand.
But the next moment,
Claaang—!
Countless sharp ice thorns sprouted on the back of the armored soldier's hand.
It happened in less than three seconds.
The instant he was trapped in the fist, he had quickly encased his entire body in ice.
He possessed the instantaneous judgment and the speed to match it.
"...Ha."
Commander laughed, dejected.
Only then did he seem to realize Wolf's cunning deception.
An A-Class hunter training at Wolf? Nonsense.
Commander, having remained at A-Class for a long time, knew better than anyone.
The young man before him was by no means A-Class.
A secretly nurtured human weapon.
Yes, that sounded more plausible.
Though it was a mock battle, to pit him against such a fellow.
He felt like a lab rat.
Thump.
Siwoo took another step towards Commander.
Commander no longer retreated.
The moment he pierced through the giant armored soldier's fist, the outcome was already decided.
Siwoo grabbed his right wrist.
Sssss...
White ice blossomed from their touching palms.
The ice, which seemed like it would cover his entire body, stopped abruptly around his shoulder.
If this hadn't been a mock battle, Commander would likely have been frozen solid, brain and all.
"Who's next?"
Siwoo released Commander's hand and turned his gaze elsewhere.
It was Baekrang's clear victory.
"That was quite an interesting spectacle, more so than expected."
Clap, clap, clap. A new figure appeared with the sound of applause.
It was 'Weather', an S-Class hunter also from Singapore and world ranking 56.
A mock battle against an A-Class hunter with no practical experience was quite a boring proposition for him, an S-Class.
Enough to refuse if not for the appropriate compensation.
However, watching the battle between Commander and Siwoo just now had piqued his interest.
He thought the same as Commander.
He could bet his entire fortune that the opponent was no mere A-Class hunter.
Either that, or the Korean Hunter Association's measuring instruments were severely malfunctioning.
"I never thought I'd have such an experience in Korea."
Muttering so, Weather twirled his index finger in the air.
At that, a sandstorm, blowing in from somewhere, seemed to envelop the training ground in the direction his finger moved.
Weather, as his alias suggested, was a hunter with the ability to manipulate weather.
Truthfully, he couldn't control the weather of an entire country or region, but an outdoor training ground of this size was well within his manageable domain.
And that setup was now complete.
This place was now about to transform into a desert devoid of moisture.
Time limit: 10 minutes.
But it was enough.
Weather stared intently at the young man before him, Siwoo.
Though he maintained a composed face, it was clear he was considerably exhausted from the recent battle.
Freezing a thousand armored soldiers, and moreover, an expanse this wide, in an instant, must have taken a significant toll.
Weather, with his arms crossed, slightly lifted only his index finger and moved it as if conducting.
At that, a massive sandstorm rose, following his finger.
The wind was fierce, but its power was just short of lethal.
But then.
"...?"
Whoosh!
Watching Siwoo swiftly dodge all attacks, Weather was actually a little surprised.
Did he still have that much stamina left?
It was hard to believe he was dashing around his domain relying solely on physical ability, without using his unique powers.
In the desertified training ground, a fierce sandstorm was raging, making it difficult to even open one's eyes properly, and the scorching heat should have made even slight movements cause shortness of breath.
Yet, that man was evading all attacks flying at him without a single sign of distress.
However, he was 'only' evading.
Pshooo...
The stream of water flying from Siwoo's right vaporized and evaporated before even reaching Weather.
Summoning ice in this heat would undoubtedly be no easy task either.
'But it's commendable talent.'
At this level, Wolf would understandably want to keep him hidden.
Every guild would want to have a joker card up their sleeve.
If their nationalities were the same, he would want to recruit him under himself immediately.
Whooooo—!
A massive sand vortex swirled, threatening to pierce the sky.
He managed to narrowly dodge it, but the next attack flew in without respite.
Craaaaack—!!!
A sand tsunami engulfed Siwoo in an instant.
This time, he couldn't dodge it.
"Kuhut...!"
Though he reflexively created an ice barrier to minimize the damage, the ice melted instantly upon contact with the hot sand.
Having only minimized the physical damage, Siwoo was completely buried in sand.
Indeed.
For Siwoo, who manipulated ice and water, this environment was the absolute worst matchup.
Schwrack!
Forcefully shaking off the sand that bound his body, Siwoo staggered to his feet.
His blue eyes, already thoroughly exhausted, quickly scanned the surroundings.
'I could use the moisture in the air, but...'
If he did that, the air within the domain would dry up completely.
Meaning, the moment he used that method, there would be no next chance.
That was too risky.
Siwoo had already expended a lot of stamina dealing with the thousand armored soldiers.
Besides, even if he defeated Weather, there was still one more hunter left.
He needed to conserve as much stamina as possible for the final battle.
"You're lasting longer than expected. Truthfully, I could increase the intensity further, but I don't want to."
"I don't want the title of 'murderer'."
This is a mock battle, right?
From afar, Weather shrugged.
The moment their eyes met, Siwoo's gaze darkened.
—It wasn't that there was no way.
A massive shadow loomed over Siwoo.
Another sand tsunami was approaching from behind.
Just before it engulfed Siwoo.
Fwoosh!
Siwoo disappeared.
No, to be precise, he had leaped with incredible speed.
"...!"
Even Weather, who had been watching Siwoo, widened his eyes at the speed.
But it could by no means be threatening.
In this environment, there was nothing he, who manipulated water and ice, could do.
Grab!
Somehow, Siwoo, who had closed the distance to Weather's face, grabbed his right wrist.
The same posture as with Commander earlier.
"Are you planning to freeze my arm too?"
"..."
"Go on, why don't you. If you can, that is."
Weather wore a composed smile.
Because he knew he couldn't.
Sure enough, Siwoo, though gripping Weather's wrist tightly, couldn't produce any ice.
Siwoo's chest heaved violently.
His dark blue hair was covered in sand, and countless shallow wounds were visible through his torn clothes.
'Just gripping the wrist like this is probably all he can manage right now.'
Weather was certain of victory.
If he won this match, the relic-grade item 'Silent Clock' promised by Maestro would be his.
"Alright, you've grabbed my wrist, what next? What are you going to do? As you can see, there isn't a single drop of water here."
Weather asked.
Siwoo, gripping his wrist, remained motionless.
He merely muttered something, too softly to be heard.
"Didn't you know that 70% of the body is water?"
"...What?"
"I can instantly reverse the flow of all fluids in your body. I can also simply raise its temperature."
Weather, his wrist still caught, froze.
And suddenly realized.
Siwoo's breathing, which had been ragged just moments ago, had already calmed completely.
As if, unbelievably, he had been feigning shortness of breath.
"Let me tell you one more thing. Water heated rapidly expands at an incredible rate."
This guy, what is he saying now...
Weather's frozen face gradually contorted.
Conversely, Siwoo's eyes curved into a smile.
Siwoo, backlit by the moonlight, slightly bent his upper body and brought his lips to Weather's ear.
"...Shall I show you?"
