Chapter 99 (1/2)

Episode 99. The War of the Stars (5)

It was a skill that I had never used before. But accepting the power did not feel awkward. The Akashic Records had long become a part of me through countless training sessions, and using it was no different from moving my body.

Looking at Seong Yoo-hyun, who was dropping down towards me, I felt my consciousness sink.

[Selecting a ‘story’.]

Everything turned black. It was a little different from the Library-like place I had seen before. It felt like I was floating in space, in a vast night sky.

Countless stories were floating in the air, twinkling like stars. Some of them were huge, planet-like ‘myths’, and some were ‘fables’ floating like dust.

Which one should I use? There was no need to borrow something grand. Seong Yoo-hyun was not such a formidable opponent, and people were watching. A power that could counter him and also defeat him entirely.

I did not deliberate for long.

[Will you select this story?]

I nodded, and clusters of starlight seeped into my body. The darkness lifted, and everything became bright again. I could see Seong Yoo-hyun, who was already right in front of me.

[Skill ‘Preview’ activated.]

[Calculating the level difference between soul class and the selected ‘story’.]

.

.

.

[Analysis complete.]

[Skill duration is 10 seconds.]

There was no explosion of massive power, great enough to burst my body. However, it didn’t occur to me at all that I was going to lose to him now. It wasn’t as if my muscles’ quality had changed or that I was bestowed with enormous powers. But I was now an entirely different person.

『He was a genius.』

I dragged my foot back. At the same time, my body moved on its own, following the ‘memory’ it had absorbed. An ingenious movement I could have never imagined with the techniques I mastered. My hands and legs moved as if they were doing a modern dance.

Seong Yoo-hyun’s descending fist grazed the tip of my nose. My moving hand grabbed him by the wrist. To break it? No. It was to keep him from avoiding the ‘skill’ I was about to use.

“……!”

No matter how much Seong Yoo-hyun’s strength had increased, he couldn’t shake off my hand in that position. Neither could he defend himself. His charge was as crude as it was powerful.

An instant weak spot. The ‘being’ dwelling inside me was not one to miss it.

『He could easily defeat 10 adults at the age he started to walk. Once his muscles developed, even famous fighters were no match for him.』

The foot that I dragged back kicked the ground. Crack. The first thing it hits is the elbow. Seong Yoo-hyun’s arm bends in the opposite direction, his wrist still caught.

His hunting suit’s durability is rapidly reduced, and white bone sticks out from his skin. Nevertheless, he was still falling steadily due to momentum. Slowly coming towards me.

『Moorim raved upon hearing his name, and soon every step he took and every gesture he made was recorded as Mugong. At the age of less than thirty, he had already become the strongest in Moorim.』

Ta-ak. My leg that landed the kick hit the ground again. I dragged his wrist toward me. Seong Yoo-hyun was now closer to me.

I let go of his wrist and stretched out my arm further. My hand bent like a snake and soon grasped the back of his neck like a harpoon. Seong Yoo-hyun’s body, falling along with gravity, neared towards me faster.

『There was no one in Moorim who didn’t know him.』

Thwack. While I was pulling his neck, my knee shot up. Most of his hunting suit’s durability was already exhausted. The only thing left was his bare body.

Seong Yoo-hyun’s eyes were wide open, and his face looked incredulous. He was looking at the approaching knee quite clearly.

I’m sure he knows. That if the attack doesn’t stop and strikes his head, enhanced body or not, he would die on the spot.

The force from the charge, the perfect timing of the knee kick, and the exact weak spot. No one can survive this.

[The greatest warrior of an era, Moorim Maengju’s ‘divine skill’ helps you.]

Thwaaaack.

“Haarghh!!”

I twisted my knee very slightly and rammed it, not into his head, but into his chest where the hunting suit was hardest.

But that alone seemed to have caused great damage. The moment he suffered the attack, Seong Yoo-hyun was flung away, rolling over the floor. He grasped his chest and groaned.

Thick blood burst out of his mouth. All of the skills and characteristics he activated were disabled. It didn’t take even 10 seconds for the 1st class Hunter, called the second strongest after the Four Guardian Gods’ guild master, to collapse. Five seconds. That was exactly how long it took.

“Ugh… ughhh….”

Seong Yoo-hyun’s face crumpled up as he moaned in pain.

And for a moment, everyone in the hall was dumbfounded. Most were not even fully aware of what had just happened.

The people sitting in the stands were rewinding their cameras, scratching their heads because they didn’t understand the situation. The Association staff, who played the role of referee, was dazedly looking at the both of us.

“…So that’s how he became a 1st class Hunter so quickly,”

Only a few of the 1st class Hunters.

The top 5 Hunters, not by the Association’s rankings, but by the standards of numerous Analysts in the Hunting industry, were the only ones aware of the current situation.

“H… Hunter Jeong Si-woo, what are you doing! When the durability of the hunting suit is exhausted, you cannot attack! Your attack also can’t be strong enough to exhaust the durability and cause extra damage…!”

The staff barely came to his senses and yelled as he pushed at me.

“Y…you’re disqualified. You’re disqualified!”

“Oh, okay.”

I replied unenthusiastically to the angry staff member and glanced around the stadium. Seong Yoo-hyun was still out of his mind, and staff members of the Association looked resentful as they glared at me.

“…….”