Chapter 248: Mirror Treatment (3)
In the eyes of the Alphaurins, this situation almost looked like the outcome had already been decided. Not only had he been hit in the liver, but a side kick had also struck him directly in the temple.
‘Relying on the counterattack function set in the Sword of Sunset would be difficult, as the master’s magic power accumulated in the cylinder is almost depleted at this point, given the passage of time.’
Whether in his hometown or in this world called Earth, the brain has always been treated as a crucial and fragile weak point in all living creatures. Yet, after taking blow after blow to these weak points, will Jung Haseong be able to cast a new spell?
‘I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect such things from a primitive wizard.’
While the S-rank hunters were engaged in a fierce battle, Kim Giryeo was hastily typing a message on his phone, preparing to send it to someone.
Although he was eager to run away, as suggested by his young disciple, the scene unfolding before him made it clear that the defeat of the top-ranked hunter was inevitable. With the frail body of an F-rank hunter, there was no way he could escape Kang Changho’s pursuit, no matter what he did.
‘Please, please check my message quickly. Please...!’
Giryeo successfully sent the completed message. But this moment was exactly when Kang Changho grabbed his target by the hair. Giryeo, who had taken his eyes off the phone screen, opened his mouth in shock.
“Aaargh!”
Jung Haseong. As the owner of one of the most common attributes on Earth, he was never meant to end up in such a predicament. However, as the consequence of supporting a certain scammer, Jung Haseong was exposed to brutal violence for the first time in his life. Seeing this, Giryeo now wondered if he should shout out in anger to provoke the battle mage’s hostility.
Bubbling...
Rather than boiling water, he felt a sensation resembling the act of blowing air into the cold sea. If he hadn’t sensed that flow, he would have carried out his thoughts.
Today marked roughly two weeks since the second half of Jung Haseong and Kim Giryeo’s private lessons had begun. And with the start of this second half, an unnamed archmage imparted a certain spell to the weak of Earth—something he had been most eager to teach.
– Jung Ha-seong. From now on, watch my hands carefully.
To be exact, he showed the pyromancer a beautiful glimpse.
“This is the skill you should ultimately aim for.”
It was as if he were born from fire itself. Beyond the back of his hand, which had turned as bright as forge metal, a red glow of 600°C began to rise slowly. Whether this was a desire unique to the Alphaurin people, he couldn’t say for sure, but in the hometown he came from, there weren’t many mages who could handle flames. And those few eccentrics shared a common goal. They typically wished for their bodies to become “fire transformation” itself. Beyond mere fire resistance, they sought to generate intense heat between their blood vessels and flesh, turning their own bodies into a miraculous, all-in-one weapon capable of tormenting their enemies with nothing more than the crime of approaching t oo closely.
– At first, you start by keeping the fire as close to you as possible.
– Once you get a little more familiar with it, the next step is to gently nurture the weakest fire you can create, like petting an animal.
– It’s a funny way to put it, but it’s not wrong. As an awakened fire user, from now on, you’ll need to gradually grow attached to the danger of fire.
But it’s not the right time yet... What he had taught was just the basic principle. That primitive magician had still not fully strengthened even the basic magical barrier. If he tried anything beyond that, his own body would burn along with it.
Snap!
Tak, tak.
In Jung Haseong’s dark gaze, a certain spark briefly flickered. The number one ranked hunter, who had been on the defensive because he had given up his distance, realized that he couldn’t defeat Kang Changho through normal means. He quickly made a decision with vivid youthful energy.
“Huh?”
At the very moment Kang Changho had fully closed the distance, Jung Haseong grabbed hold of him and activated a flame spell. With this method, no matter how agile the opponent was, there would be no easy escape from the technique.
It was in an instant. As soon as Kang Changho’s arm was grabbed, he immediately realized he had fallen into the trap. However, he couldn’t escape the completed spell.
Whoosh!
Immediately after, a fierce burst of complete combustion surged from the spot where they had been standing.It was a perfect blue.
‘It can’t be!’
To activate such a high powered skill at close range, including the caster, Giryeo was shocked by Haseong’s reckless move. However, surprisingly, the outcome wasn’t as disastrous as expected.
“Huh?”
Cough, cough.
After coughing from swallowing the hot air, the fire mage appeared from the dissipating smoke. He had only sustained minor superficial burns, rated at 1 degree, on his skin. Moreover, as planned, he had successfully inflicted significant damage on his opponent.
Swish.
A familiar and unpleasant vibrational sound flowed from somewhere. Kang Changho had managed to escape the fiery prison just in time before his body was completely burned, by pouring his reserved mana into the muscles of his calves. But this had been an all-or-nothing attack cast by Jung Haseong. His right arm, which had been held in the fire the longest, was left with undesirable critical damage.
“—...”
Swish.
It’s a strange thing. The third S-rank Hunter of Korea, despite having such a personality and physique, was surprisingly someone who always smiled. Looking back now, it turns out that he had never shown a blatant expression of anger, like furrowing his brows. Surprisingly, just as he had said, he had never truly been angry up until now. He might have felt a bit of annoyance or discomfort, but whenever he found himself in such situations, Kang Changho would instead raise the corners of his mouth into a slight smirk.
“...This is really different from what I expected.”
However, even the man with such a cheerful demeanor couldn’t endure the pain of his arm being burned. Soon, the expression of the large man visibly changed. Like most Earthlings, he showed a quite unfamiliar reaction to the pain of the burn. He grimaced. After all, unlike Kim Giryeo, his pain receptors were still fully active.
But right now, a distorted smile was the least of his concerns.
“The skill power has increased.”
Kang Changho quickly creates some distance, exactly 10 paces. Once the gap was established, he stared at his burnt arm muscles and spoke.
You all know that skills that enhance the body also increase the defense of the body. Moreover, I—like any modern person—don’t particularly enjoy getting hurt, so I’ve always carried items that further boost my defense. That’s why I wear so many accessories on my hands. When I met an S-rank fire-attribute awakener in the past, I was sure that with these measures, I could endure most fires without much trouble, even if they hit me head-on. But...
“Just a little while ago, you couldn’t even control your abilities properly, struggling with the break... and now, all of a sudden, this kind of skill?”
The injury sustained in the battle with an enemy he thought would be safe. Changho continued to examine his arm with interest and complimented Haseong’s growth, saying that it seemed like he had received quite a bit of good advice from the teacher with the yellow hair.
“Anyway, the more I think about it, the more strange things become.”
However, as always, this man’s calm attitude was not a good sign in terms of probability. Although one of his arms had been burned to the point of nearly uselessness, he still had plenty of functional parts left. Most importantly, compared to heroes who needed to regularly consume potions due to frequent dungeon explorations, he had an abundance of healing supplies.
The material issues that apply even in battle without exception. If the fight continues like this, the outcome will be inevitable.
Thump, thump, thump.
Someone’s heart is beating as if it’s about to explode. The hunter, with an imposing physique like a wild beast of the natural world, began walking slowly.
But at that moment. One step, two steps. The sorcerer from Earth, who had been confidently moving forward as if ready to engage in battle at any moment, suddenly stopped in place and brought his hand to his face.
“—...”
Drip.
Soon, a red line rolled down outside his tear duct. Kang Changho suddenly shed bloody tears from his right eye. Blood. Suddenly blood.
Kang Changho, realizing the situation, covered his bleeding eye and turned his head. There was only one person who could have triggered such an unexpected attack.
“It’s done!”
At the end of Kang Changho’s bloodshot gaze, that person was standing. Kim Giryeo tightly gripped the body of his budget smartphone and silently cheered.
A major incident had begun, with S-ranks clashing and exchanging blows. Earlier, he had blurted out to call 112 in a panic, but thinking rationally now, the chances of low-ranked awakened police of any help in this situation were slim.
<Sent message[Recipient: Seo Esther]
[Hunter, you told me before that you still owe me a debt. Then, can you pay that debt right now? I mean Kang Changho. Please put a strong curse on Kang Changho. As soon as you see this message.]
[This is a really urgent matter.]
So, in order to save Jung Haseong, who was in a disadvantaged position, Kim Giryeo pulled out the connections he had been saving. Fortunately, the curse sorcerer, who had received a solid favor from an alien, was outside the dungeon, so she was able to fulfill his request at the right time.
However, not even a single strand of Seo Esther’s hair can be found on this white sand beach. So where exactly is she fulfilling her benefactor’s wish?
“—...”
Kang Changho immediately recognized whose work it was just by sensing the intensity of the skill.
“Today... I heard there’s a mana resource event being held by the Magic Tower Guild.”
The cursed target, who had been attacked, muttered incomprehensible information as he adjusted the corners of his mouth. Perhaps the inflammatory reaction or localized bleeding was less painful than the burns inflicted by an S-rank hunter, as their sneer remained intact.
“The representative of the Korean Magic Tower, who is no doubt sitting proudly at headquarters...”
What are the advantages of curse magic? Some people point to the variety of effects that curses can target. However, the true power of a curse is actually manifested in its “range. Esther was an extraordinary psychic who could exert her influence not only from the upper floors of the Korean Magic Tower building in Guro-gu, Seoul, but all the way to the shores of Incheon in the West Sea.
However, as powerful as curses are, the price one must pay for their performance is equally grand. Among them, the most problematic example is this.
“Huh.”
Sincerely. Whether it’s this small planetary system or some alien’s homeland, it doesn’t matter. In curses, an ‘individual’ is such an important ingredient that even the slightest lack of sincerity can result in the magic failing to activate, which happens quite frequently.
“Really...”
To think that a primitive sorcerer from Earth could break through a distance of several dozen kilometers between cities and a spell... The words Kang Changho began shouting, clutching his head, were a form of expressing his frustration.
“Right. I knew that Esther, that person, had some close relationship with you, Kim Giryeo. But how could a person go this far?”
“Uhm...”
“This power is too intense.”
“Hmm?”
“Honestly, I’ve never even had a conversation with that Representative Seo. I’ve deliberately avoided her. But despite my consideration, this feels like getting stabbed by a stranger I just met on the street...”
This person, who had the eyes of a reptilian creature, couldn’t help but be deeply offended by the skill. It was due to their personal nature. As a result, he had already figured out that those who possessed the skill of (Curse) were sensitive to emotional fluctuations. In an environment like this, there was no benefit in needlessly stirring up trouble. Still, he had intentionally avoided meetings with the Guild Master of the Korean Magic Tower.
Kang Changho and the second-ranked Korean had never once met in private, not even once. Given his innate persona lites, if he had encountered Esther directly, the larger man would have likely harbored resentment within seconds, so it was, in a way, a wise choice, if you could call it that.
The alien archmage solved the problem by using the method of swallowing their pride and stepping in first.
“I didn’t think of them like that. It was definitely a good decision to not meet hunter Esther in person. Just by the way she acts, I can tell we’re fundamentally incompatible...”
As you can see, the approach Kang Changho chose was a failure. If the power of curse-type awakening skills changes depending on the level of anger, then wouldn’t it be easier to simply avoid situations where emotions could be triggered, rather than awkwardly trying to please? With that calculation in mind, Kang Changho had been avoiding Esther all this time. And in reality, he had avoided her quite well. However...
<New Message[Sender: Seo Esther]
[I did as you asked. Did it help? I’m feeling uneasy because I don’t know the situation and it’s difficult to call recklessly.]
[I’ll try to maintain the curse until you speak up again, Giryeo-ssi. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.]
The assumption that grudges wouldn’t form as long as they didn’t meet—that was something only someone who didn’t truly understand the nature of curse-wielders would believe.
A small blessing and misfortune—Seo Esther had a much milder disposition than most typical curse users. Still, even that Korean carried a subtle undercurrent of irritability at the core.
A man, because he is a man. A woman, because she is a woman. A child, because they are young. An elder, because they are old.
Whether it was due to today’s provocative media or something else, that sorcerer fundamentally held no affection for any member of society, for all sorts of reasons. To Korea’s second-ranked hunter, the world is proof of the theory that humans are inherently evil—a collection of all that is dreadful.
However, Esther’s personality was a tremendous asset when it came to skill usage. Even if someone had little direct connection to her, as long as it was the sake of a benefactor’s request, this S-rank curse-wielder could sincerely condemn and wish misfortune upon a third party at any time.
“—...”
And to top it off, due to her personal values, Esther considered criminals the absolute worst among all types of people.
Thud.
Blood boiled within him. Soon, Kang Changho found himself in a position where he could never have imagined being inched in by the top-ranked individuals of Korea—namely, Esther and Jung Haseong. And in some ways, this could be interpreted as the reward that came at the end of someone’s selfless act.
Look. A large egoist who always prioritized his own interests over the safety of others, isn’t he collapsing according to the will of someone who has lived a life filled with all kinds of harm and loss?
‘Once this is over, I’ll make sure to bribe the curse-wielder generously...’
Of course, his intentions weren’t pure, but still, even if he had used falsified numbers, he was officially an S-rank in South Korea. From the perspective of those who didn’t know about hypocrisy, he was simply considered a virtuous person.
