𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖𝟓
Entering the arena after expressing my intention to participate, I spent the next three days quietly going about my life as an inmate while checking my physical condition.
「. . . . . . .」
To be honest, I had mixed feelings, as I never thought I would experience something like this in my life.
However, since my abilities had been proven, no one on the same floor bothered me, and I was able to peacefully reach the day the arena opened without any problems.
“Start right now!”
“I’m thirsty from waiting!”
A circular arena that resembled an ancient Colosseum but was decorated in a modern style.
A girl with pigtails and a demon mask appeared on the upper level, where noisy shouts were constantly heard.
「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚?」
To be honest, I was quite surprised. I thought she would be the head of the Yangcheolgung at the time, but I didn’t know exactly how old she was.
「𝙒𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 1𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩?」
Even if she looks older than she appears, she is probably not that much different from me.
Wouldn’t she be about the same age as Cheong So-ha?
Looking at her like that, I thought of a small possibility.
I wondered if she hadn’t reached her prime yet.
However, as I saw her raise her boundless spiritual power and captivate the audience, I was convinced that it was a futile thought.
“. . . It’s noisy.”
It was just a quiet murmur, but soon the arena was filled with silence.
Everyone instinctively sensed that she was not someone to be trifled with.
「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
Ring!
【Hae Ga-ram】
▶Level 71
▶Ability Scores
【Stamina: B+】
【spiritual power: A】
【Spellcraft: S-】
【Mental Strength: S-】
▶Traits (9/10)
【Extreme (S)】
【Iron Wings (S-)】
【Longevity (A+)】
【Commander (A)】
【Blue Beacon (A)】
【Battle Instinct (A-)】
【Accelerated Growth (B)】
【Spiritual Power Amplification (B)】
【Sensory Expansion (C+)】
「. . . 𝙉𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧? 」
It wasn’t the time to talk about her prime. She was already strong enough now. She was probably unrivaled throughout the world.
She wasn’t someone I could even try to face. Regardless of victory or defeat, there was a high possibility that I wouldn’t even be able to stand as an opponent.
「𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. . . . . . .」
Truly impregnable.
At least within this Yangcheolgung, there was no one who dared to oppose her.
Displaying such an absolute presence, Hae Ga-ram waved her hand as if she was annoyed and announced the opening of the arena.
“I don’t care if you kill or spare them, so just have fun.”
Although her face was hidden by a mask, she seemed to be enjoying this fight herself.
Perhaps because she was young, she felt somewhat different from the Hae Ga-ram I knew in the future.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚.」
Hae Ga-ram is one of the characters I liked quite a bit.
Seeing her different side like this, I felt a strange sense of emotion despite the situation.
“Dojeong-hui from Room 2 on the Second Floor! Gonghansu from Room 9!”
One of the Yangcheolgung guards acted as the emcee and called out the names of the participants, who then entered the arena in the center and fought a duel.
It was much more brutal and savage, but the format was similar to watching a professional wrestling match on TV.
Hae Ga-ram on the upper level watched and enjoyed it with her subordinates.
She even had a luxurious glass of alcohol in her hand, as if she was really indulging in pleasure.
After all, for her, who would spend half her life in this prison due to her family’s mission, this time was probably her only rest and entertainment.
Watching several more matches like that, I got a general sense of the duels here.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩.」
Rather, it was a very convenient format for me, as I didn’t even have to consider my opponent.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄’𝙢 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.」
The Third Floor inmates who exuded an aura of strength at a glance.
Of them, there were three who had an exceptionally strong presence.
They were probably the 1st-grade inmates that Choi Man-cheol had warned me about.
「𝙄 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙.」
In order to face Hae Ga-ram directly, I needed to defeat all of them and stand at the top.
I hardened my resolve and slowly stepped forward to prepare for my first duel, which was finally here.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
There were several reasons why battles were held in this way in Yangcheolgung.
First, as it was known to the outside world, it was to relieve the violence of the inmates.
Second, it was to closely observe and learn the abilities of dangerous individuals through duels in the arena.
And finally, it was to periodically absorb the spiritual power of the inmates through such a process and use it as a power source for the barrier.
「. . . 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮.」
Hae Ga-ram, who was watching the inmates’ duels from the upper part of the arena, fixed the mask on her face with a somewhat bored expression.
At first, she remembered that there were often quite exciting results, but at some point, it became fixed and only obvious and boring matches continued.
“Is it not to your liking?”
“Those three are a bit too hasty. Unless something unexpected happens, there won’t be much of a change.”
The three inmates known as the Pulverizer, Blood Fist, and Mine.
After they arrived, the matches in this arena rarely became interesting.
Drinking glasses of alcohol like this in front of everyone was largely to avoid being looked down upon, but she was quite enjoying the matches themselves, so it was a pity.
「𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩. . . . . . .」
It would probably be the young prisoner from the Second Floor who entered this time.
It was none other than Han Kang-yoon. It was unprecedented for an active academy student to be imprisoned in Yangcheolgung, so Hae Ga-ram also remembered it clearly.
「𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨. . . . . ., 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙.」
It was both the impression she got from his innate nature and the aura he exuded.
In Hae Ga-ram’s opinion, Han Kang-yoon didn’t have that much power.
At most, he was comparable to a 2nd-grade exorcist. Maybe even below that level.
However, since he succeeded in using reinforcement magic within the barrier formation, he was probably quite proficient in handling spells.
“Isn’t that great? He’s not even of age yet.”
“That’s true.”
However, that alone would not be enough to survive among the big shots of this Yangcheolgung.
After all, Yangcheolgung was a place of horror where only criminals with a certain level of dangerousness were gathered.
Furthermore, Han Kang-yoon’s first opponent was Ricardo.
He was a criminal who had killed numerous high-ranking Korean officials by accepting illegal requests as a foreign mercenary.
Although he wasn’t at the 1st-grade level, he was a formidable enemy who could be considered the peak at the level below it.
“You seem quite interested in him.”
“Don’t you think so? He’s a genius who was unanimously sent to Yangcheolgung at this age.”
Although it was a suspicious agenda for some reason, Hae Ga-ram couldn’t deny it because Han Kang-yoon’s criminal record was valid even in her eyes.
「𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤.」
However, unlike Hae Ga-ram’s expectations, the result of the match that followed was very simple.
Han Kang-yoon dodged Ricardo’s preemptive attack, entered close combat, and knocked out his opponent in one breath.
“. . . How disappointing. Did he get a little careless?”
Of course, anyone would feel that way considering Han Kang-yoon’s age.
However, Hae Ga-ram didn’t think Ricardo had been careless.
「𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠.」
However, the moment he crossed swords with Han Kang-yoon, all of that was unravelled so absurdly.
It wasn’t that Ricardo had made a mistake. Rather, it should be seen that he had no choice but to do so.
“His skill is amazing.”
“Excuse me?”
“He fights well.”
To be honest, she was a little surprised. Considering his age, he wouldn’t have been able to gain that much practical experience against people.
Hae Ga-ram began to examine Han Kang-yoon’s movements with a more serious gaze than before.
「𝘼𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧.」
However, something was strange. Hae Ga-ram’s extremely sharp senses were telling her so.
And it reached its peak when Han Kang-yoon’s second duel unfolded.
“. . . Isn’t he above the 2nd-grade level?”
“Do you feel something?”
The words of her aide, Hae Un-hyeong, were close to the correct answer, but far from it. The clue that Hae Ga-ram found was rather the opposite.
“There is no change in the fluctuation of spiritual power even though he is fighting against opponents of this level in a row.”
Although the outcome itself was somewhat bland, it was not Hae Ga-ram who could not read the advanced swordsmanship contained within it.
And even in the midst of such a battle, Han Kang-yoon’s spiritual power was extremely calm.
It was very unusual.
「. . . . . . .」
When Hae Ga-ram first saw Han Kang-yoon, she estimated that he had the strength of a 2nd-grade beginner.
However, when she actually saw it, there was quite a big gap.
In other words, Han Kang-yoon’s control was so complete that it surpassed even Hae Ga-ram’s sense of danger.
“. . . Interesting.”
In fact, this Yangcheolgung was a very boring place for Hae Ga-ram.
As she had already reached a certain level, there was nothing that could threaten her, and there were no particularly interesting incidents.
Although there were inmates in the special zone who even she could not ignore, she did not often see them because their personal contact was restricted.
And for her, a long-awaited form of entertainment had finally appeared.
“He’s winning very easily. At this rate, he’ll probably face those three as well.”
“He’ll win.”
“. . . Are you sure enough to say that?”
“Well, I can’t imagine him losing.”
It really was. Since a while ago, she had been simulating it in my head several times, but she couldn’t picture Han Kang-yoon losing to those three.
For Hae Ga-ram, who had reached the realm of transcendence, this kind of premonition was already like a valid deduction.
Seeing Hae Ga-ram’s attitude, which was already full of conviction, Hae Un-hyeong said a word softly.
“I’ll bet on Han Kang-yoon losing.”
“. . . Another bet? Do you like it that much?”
“I told you. I won’t be able to stop until I win at least once.”
After losing the first bet a long time ago, Hae Un-hyeong had continued to make bets against Hae Ga-ram’s will in this way.
Smiling at his stubborn attitude, Hae Ga-ram nodded her head.
“I told you. The day I lose will never come.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Between the two of them, Han Kang-yoon finally entered the arena for his third duel.
His opponent was Cha Sol-bi, known as Mine.
She was a former 1st-grade exorcist and an executor from the Exorcism Headquarters, a real powerhouse.
Leave a Reply