Chapter 82

〈 Chapter 82 〉 Part 1, Chapter 5 (15)

<May 9th, Midnight, Summit of Gwanaksan>

“Aaaah! Monsters!!”

The hero screamed in terror. The heroes gathered at the summit of Gwanaksan were mostly in agreement.

Usa swallowed nervously and tapped his staff on the ground.

“…Is a real Hell Gate opening in Seoul?”

Headless monsters were shambling up the mountain path like zombies. Sprouting blue flames from their bodies, they looked every bit like creatures risen from hell.

“Must be due to the Dimensional Gate. Is this normal?”

Pungbaek spat onto the ground and summoned wind around his cane. The ominous magical energy emanating from them felt like it could annihilate everyone at any moment.

“Unsah, take care of yourself. Don’t collapse like last time.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass myself like last time.”

Unsah gripped her spear in position. The magical energy stored in her new combat suit obtained through Yu-Sung flowed into her spear.

“…Young lady, isn’t that a bit much?”

Pungbaek coughed awkwardly as he pointed out Unsah’s outfit. The newly issued battle suit had an unfortunately revealing design in various places.

Unsah smiled without hesitation.

“The manual says the defense increases when more skin is exposed!”

“Old man, can we sue Yu-Sung under consumer protection laws?”

“I’ll gather a legal team even if it costs my entire fortune.”

Pungbaek and Usa sighed deeply as they gathered their magical power. Other heroes blocking the slope also began channeling their magic against the approaching monsters.

Beep. A screen appeared on the smartwatch. Yu Yinghuo’s face looked skeletal and emaciated.

– …Commander issues an order.

Information about the enemy flashed across the heroes’ screens. Analyzing the magical patterns revealed shocking results.

– …The enemies are confirmed deceased heroes. They’re from Pine Tree Squad.

“What…?”

Unsah quickly enhanced her vision with magic. Though headless and wearing different clothing, the weapons and gaits matched those she knew.

Especially the red-sword wielding headless swordsman standing centrally stood out. Pungbaek tensed up recognizing him immediately.

“Jipseong…!”

The A-Rank villain he personally arrested was now resurrected like a legendary zombie, shuffling forward.

– Focus. Reanalyze their magical patterns.

As instructed, the heroes rechecked. Their magic clearly registered as red – the signal for ‘Monster’.

– Reason unknown. But one thing is certain: these beings now threaten humanity.

“Shouldn’t we call them ‘human-shaped monsters’?”

At Pungbaek’s suggestion, the commander nodded and updated the classification.

Monsters and heroes locked eyes. The monsters raised their weapons and charged.

– All units! Commence battle! Eliminate the Dullahan monsters!

On the night of May 9th, all attention focused on the summit of Gwanak Mountain.

* * *

The earth splits apart. Waves surge violently.

The shockwave from the clash of sword and fist alone destroys the surrounding environment.

Unlike the first encounter, not even a single blow is allowed.

When slashed horizontally from above, dodge sideways and deflect the blade.

When split vertically from below, block with a downward punch.

For diagonal slashes, counter with an open-handed grab protected by magical barriers instead of bare hands.

Ki-gi-gik!

Magic clashes against magic. Blue and gold magical energies collide fiercely in a tug-of-war.

The blade slowly begins cutting into the gauntlet.

“Grrk!”

In sword versus fist combat, the fist fighter is naturally at a disadvantage. While the opponent strikes with lines, you must attack surfaces.

Duck quickly. The blade grazes over your knuckles but leaves no wound.

Guangjian’s body spins to continue the assault. I raise one hand surrounded by magic to deflect it upward while swinging my other fist.

Deflect the slash, redirect the blade along the gauntlet, and strike the opening before they can recover their weapon.

The ultimate defense is offense. Redirect Guangjian’s powerful swing with both hands to create an opening.

Tuck your elbows to your waist. Keep your right elbow close to form a vertical line. Seeing my stance, Guangjian moves to avoid my frontal magical discharge.

“Tch!”

Too late. I twist my waist and extend my arm from my spot, jabbing like a bee stinger toward Guangjian.

Kaaang!

Unfortunately, my fist doesn’t reach Guangjian’s body. He pulls back his sword guard to block the path of my punch. The throwing sword Guangjian created rises from below.

I leap back to create distance. Guangjian’s sword cuts off the end of my tie.

An unspoken pause. Already thirty exchanges of sword and fist have consumed our magic.

Guangjian regathers his magic throughout his body while I channel energy into my damaged gauntlets for repair.

Flutter. I deliberately turn both hands. Naturally, this small habit will remind Guangjian of someone.

“You.”

Finally, Guangjian speaks.

“Confirm this. What’s your relationship with Chang-yeom and Iron Fist Chul-soo?”

“Same fire attribute?”

I tilt my head slightly. Guangjian’s throwing sword barely grazes past my hair. His expression remains deadly serious.

“Don’t joke around. There won’t be a next time.”

“Not joking… Hmm, how about some casual chat while I recharge my spent magic?”

In fighting games, there’s always that unspoken moment. When both parties step back to charge their ultimate skills. Since Guangjian offered, I might as well talk.

“What’s so interesting about my connection to Hwakwon?”

Can’t blame him for being curious. My humanoid fighting style is fundamentally based on street brawling. While not a formal martial art, there’s one man who transformed such alleyway scuffles into practical combat techniques.

“Hwakwon Kim Chul-soo. Not the fake version named Seung-hyung, but the hero who died during the Pyongyang incident, right?”

“Yeah. I personally witnessed that senior’s death. How do you know his techniques?”

“…Learned them firsthand. Through physical punishment.”

No further explanation needed beyond that.

“Senior’s still alive?”

“Nope, sorry. Misunderstanding. He’s already passed away.”

How could he believe that obtaining hidden data after defeating the hidden boss of Pyongyang includes Hwakwon’s combat data? That I learned it repeatedly in a VR simulator by getting beaten up endlessly by the ghost of Hwakwon?

From acquiring that data for the first time in the second cycle to clearing it in the seventeenth cycle.

Sixteen versions of Hwakwon became my teachers, teaching me their fighting techniques. And whenever possible, Unjang and Unsah would duel me together under the guise of training.

Though the protagonist only fought seriously two or three times, those near-death training sessions finally paid off.

Phoenix’s body fully manifested those memories. I condensed countless recollections into one summary for the confused Guangjian.

“Taught by ghosts. Believe me now?”

“Communication impossible. My mistake for trying to reason with a lunatic.”

Guangjian angles his sword diagonally again. Both having recharged our magic and caught our breaths, it’s time to resume the fight.

But this is just continuing where we left off in previous battles. Meaningless exchanges of sword and fist. Wasting time.

So I dropped my fists. Relaxing my stance makes Guangjian even more tense. I point to where my heart should be while smiling.

“Keep holding back forever?”

“…This is enough.”

“Will die if don’t fight at full strength?”

“As long as my resolve remains unbroken, I won’t die. Even if I fail to kill you.”

I pout my lips. That’s correct. It’s not called “Mad Dog” for nothing.

Never gives up until the opponent is dead. Fans respectfully nicknamed him “Rabid Dog” because of his tenacious nature.

“Then let’s see how far your resolve goes.”

For enemies with 100% physical resistance, use mental attacks. Of course, I don’t possess any mind-affecting magic or skills.

“Since you mentioned Hwakwon, can I ask one question?”

“Useless chatter…!”

Guangjian kicks off the ground and leaps forward, aiming to bisect me in one step. I simply smile and raise my left arm into the path of the sword.

“Rusalka.”

Kaaang!

Guangjian’s sword collides with my left arm. From mid-forearm down, the changed armor blocks the blade.

Partial monster transformation. A technique akin to high-ranking officers’ privilege, transforming only parts of the human body into monster forms.

“…”

Guangjian startles. As the unnatural magic of Tera flows from my arm, his eyes begin clouding with murky energy.

“Guh!”

With a sound like snapping sinews, a trickle of blood runs down the corner of Guangjian’s mouth.

Whoosh–!

Golden light envelops Guangjian’s entire body. Magic surges anew, healing all wounds as Guangjian revives.

Infinite lives. Infinite continues. Until Guangjian himself decides to give up, he cannot die.

Then the only option is to make him drop the controller himself.

“About Rusalka.”

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

“The water power Rusalka left behind, how long can you keep holding back from using it?”

Guangjian stiffens. I take a step forward and grab his sword.

“You pierced Rusalka’s heart and drank her core, right? That was what enabled lowly hunter Yoon Hwan to grow to S-Rank.”

I point at Guangjian’s heart and smile.

“You already used it once during Pyongyang, didn’t you? How potent that power was. Ah, was that supposed to be a secret? The reason all S-Rank heroes were wiped out during the Pyongyang incident.”

“Shut up!”

“When Hwakwon died to monsters and everyone faced death, you tried to use Rusalka’s power but lost control, right? Resulting in that mess while trying to stop you. Ultimately, everyone except you perished.”

“Shut up…!”

Guangjian’s sword trembles. Trying desperately to silence my words, he withdraws his blade and swings again, but it’s futile.

My voice is faster than his sword.

The blade slices through my collar and cleaves empty air.

“What’s with the shaking? Haven’t even started yet.”

Thoroughly evading the blade while continuing my speech. Guangjian tries to destroy the surroundings with his sword to avoid hearing, but once heard, it can’t be unheard.

The sword cleaves through empty air. With my full attention on dodging, Guangjian’s blade has no chance of reaching me.

“You can’t kill me without using Rusalka’s power~”

Puuk! Guangjian creates a needle of light that pierces my ear, attempting to burst my eardrum to prevent hearing my voice.

“Dislike my words that much?”

Guangjian refuses conversation. I snap my fingers.

Kwa-a-aang!

A massive pillar of fire erupts beneath Guangjian’s feet. Trying to protect himself with a magical barrier, Guangjian’s efforts are futile as the flames consume the barrier.

Fuuu—

The fire pillar dissipates, leaving behind a charred figure kneeling on one knee. Golden light flashes from his scorched body as he regenerates, including his eardrums.

“Burning to death is said to be the most painful.”

“This level of pain means nothing.”

“This is completely hopeless.”

Snapping my fingers again, Guangjian raises his sword to cut through the fire pillar but gets consumed by flames once more.

Third resurrection. Guangjian rises and readjusts his stance. Determination still burns in his eyes.

“What will you do? Keep avoiding using Rusalka’s power until the end?”

“That power, I will never use.”

With resolute determination, Guangjian charges forward. I stop his blade mid-swing.

“Why? Here, even losing control wouldn’t cause problems, right? If nuclear fusion happens here, only this island within the barrier would be destroyed. Using Rusalka’s power now could kill me! Last chance!”

“Even if your words were true, using that power could kill you. But without it, I can fight here forever.”

“…Guangjian, won’t you consider a deal?”

“No.”

“Tsk.”

What a troublesome guy. I flick my tongue, burn Guangjian, then create distance. Flash. Guangjian resurrects.

“To kill me while continuously dying? Forever?”

“Yes.”

It was annoying in the original story too. If not for needing to awaken spirits, I would have snuck in at night and slit his throat long ago.

“Hmph, troublesome.”

Then I need to make him use Rusalka’s power.

To escape this barrier, to fully awaken the spirit…

“Just using Guangjian’s power alone can’t kill me, but using Rusalka’s power could, right? You admit that?”

“Understood. Stop repeating useless things.”

Not useless. Deliberately doing it.

“I have no intention of dying easily either. Persuasion isn’t working. So we need to make Mr. Hwan Yun use Rusalka’s power himself…”

I activate my smartwatch. Guangjian sneers and scoffs.

“Useless. This place is completely isolated from the outside world. Communication means nothing.”

“No, I just want to show you a picture. Want to see?”

I display the screen to Guangjian. Shock registers on his face.

A photo taken just 30 minutes ago shows Yoon Yuhwa together with Seok Harang. Seok Harang sleeps peacefully unaware, while Yoon Yuhwa holds medicine in his hand. Doubt fills Guangjian’s eyes.

“Don’t try to deceive me.”

I shrug.

“Space may be separated, but time flows the same. We’ve been fighting for about 15 minutes, right?”

“You, what exactly did you do beforehand??!”

Guangjian seethes with anger. I spread my arms and smile.

“Just like you prepared ultimate moves and waited here, I did some prep work too. Miss Yoo Sung was surprisingly easy to talk to, wasn’t she? Surely you don’t know who your daughter Seok Harang is with right now?”

I tap my smartwatch.

“Fight forever? Pfft. I’m already swamped with work. Where’s the time for that? If you want to fight forever, go ahead. But…”

I mimic slashing my neck with the side of my hand.

“What happens to your daughter Seok Harang in the meantime is beyond my knowledge?”

“This brat!!!”

Finally, a blue ripple appears in Guangjian’s eyes.

Kwa-a-a-a—

The waves surrounding the island churn violently. Like a sentient beast, they reveal sharp teeth and surround me.

“That’s right. Obviously you need to unleash Rusalka’s power. Why endure all this hardship until now?”

The fiery gauntlets flicker. Flames push back the water-attributed magical energy filling the air. When disadvantaged by element, we overwhelm with quality and quantity.

“Right. Spirit battles usually escalate to phase two.”

I raise my hand, offering Guangjian the first move. Golden and blue eyes swirling with clear killing intent appear in Guangjian’s irises.

“Then let’s see what Phase Two of Half-Spirit Hwan Yun looks like.”

“Certainly will kill you!”

Countless beams of light and a massive wave crash down upon me.