novelraw Chapter 133 : Seo Jun-seong (2)
Chapter 133 : Seo Jun-seong (2)
In the middle of the spectator seats.
Distinguished guests of Execution Force squad leader rank or higher, specially invited, were watching the match together with the Instructors who were once their comrades.
"Wow, is this a high school fight?"
The 4th Division vice-commander stuck out his tongue.
"Kids these days are scary."
"I know, right."
"At that level, we could bring them in right now as active-duty aces, couldn't we?"
"They might lack improvisation in real combat, but if we just teach them that, they seem like they could be put to use right away."
The senior squad leader from the 7th Division agreed with the 4th Division vice-commander's words.
"Well, our commander told me to come since I was just sitting around, but I'd only heard that this cohort was amazing. I didn't know they were this good."
"Both Seo Jun-seong's power and Jeong Su-hyeon, who weathered it and landed a solid hit, are impressive."
"Hmmmm."
The 4th Division vice-commander, looking at Su-hyeon, asked.
"Hey, who are you guys taking for the second semester internship?"
"Well, our commander will decide that."
"Come on. Let's play fair with each other."
"I'm just a low-ranking member, so I don't know anything."
"Oh come on. If the 7th Division ace is low-ranking, then who's the real power player in your division?"
"I really don't know."
"Tsk, just tell me if it's Jeong Su-hyeon or not."
Then, as if surprised, the senior squad leader's eyebrow twitched.
"You're not going for Seo Jun-seong?"
"You know our commander likes those tenacious kids. Seo Jun-seong is good too, but he's too much of an elite course, right? There's no fun in raising him."
"And yet you're trying to pick Seo Jun-seong."
"Tsk, have I been living a life of deception?"
The 7th Division senior squad leader, withdrawing his suspicious gaze, changed the subject.
"Anyway. They're amazing. Honestly, I think I'd struggle if I had to fight those kids."
"Oh? That's an exaggeration."
"It's true."
The 4th Division vice-commander chuckled.
"I'm planning to recommend selecting the winner here."
"Then it would be Jeong Su-hyeon."
"Huh? I thought it would be Seo Jun-seong."
"Well, I wonder about that?"
Instructor Lee Ho-seung gave a thumbs up to the 4th Division vice-commander who rated Su-hyeon highly.
"Oh? Looks like our Jin-seok has developed some discernment after putting in some time."
"Hey, look, just the fact that he's playing the role of a disciple while tolerating that man's personality means he'll do well in organizational life."
"...I can't deny that."
"These bastards are talking about me right to my face."
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"Seo Jun-seong is up!"
"Ohhh, he's tougher than he looks!"
'That was an unexpected blow. I took quite a bit of damage.'
In addition to the mana consumed and the direct and indirect damage taken while successively defeating Choi Mina, Hong In-hyeon, and Hwang Ji-su.
Seo Jun-seong's body, having taken Su-hyeon's roundhouse kick directly, was sending unprecedented levels of abnormal signals.
'Several cracks in my bones. If I hadn't spread telekinesis when falling, it would have been over right there.'
Seo Jun-seong's body, filled with powerful mana, was incomparably stronger than an ordinary person's.
But it was embarrassing to compare it with Su-hyeon's body, which had increased its output with Liberation and was growing stronger every day due to the Unlimited characteristic.
'Still, in terms of remaining mana amount, I have a definite advantage.'
From the outset, Su-hyeon's absolute mana amount was lacking compared not only to top-ranked cadets but also to Hong In-hyeon, Choi Mina, and Kim A-yun.
'That's a case where his growth environment held him back.'
"Thank you. Were you waiting for me?"
"Acting like you didn't take much damage."
Su-hyeon snickered.
"That's true."
"Here I come again."
Boom!
As Su-hyeon charged, Seo Jun-seong's body flew high into the sky.
"Where are you going!"
Seo Jun-seong created a gravity field in Su-hyeon's pursuit trajectory.
At that exquisite arrangement, Su-hyeon stopped his pursuit and hastily retreated.
'No, he'll come again!'
As Seo Jun-seong expected, Su-hyeon spread Mana Shields in the air again and performed aerial maneuvers.
'I won't lose in terms of aerial combat proficiency.'
Seo Jun-seong also flew in all directions to avoid his pursuit, engaging in a chaotic aerial battle.
"Woooow!"
"It's like fighter jets fighting each other!"
'Good, I'm getting used to his speed.'
Even while being driven by Su-hyeon's speed, Seo Jun-seong was slowly preparing a counterattack.
"Where do you think you're going."
Su-hyeon twisted his mouth and shifted into an even higher gear.
Swish swish swish swish!
Seo Jun-seong was astonished by Su-hyeon's pressure as he kept aiming for his back.
'He's this fast?'
He was astonished by Su-hyeon's speed, which was almost too fast for the eye to follow.
It was like watching a swift fly momentarily disappear from view.
'At this rate, telekinesis targeting Jeong Su-hyeon himself will be difficult to use.'
In the end, Seo Jun-seong had no choice but to modify his tactics.
"Huaah!"
Seo Jun-seong spread a gravity field around himself.
"It'll be hard to get in with that!"
Contrary to the audience's reaction.
'Now's a good time to try.'
Su-hyeon, maintaining the speed created by continued aerial maneuvers, charged in with a Mana Shield wrapped around his shoulder.
Booom!
The collision in mid-air created a shock wave.
"Kuk!"
The two were simultaneously thrown in opposite directions.
"Crazy! He pushed back Seo Jun-seong's gravity field with a body tackle?"
"What kind of physical abilities does that bastard have?"
"Even a lycanthrope would have to back down."
Park Gangjeong, a third-year watching this scene, burst into laughter.
"Wahahahaha! The power of muscles is infinite! What's a mere telekinesis?"
"It's Senior Park Gangjeong."
"They say he commutes to the internship training rather than going far away because of exercise."
"I heard that senior has his eye on Jeong Su-hyeon as his successor."
"Hmm."
Seo Jun-seong, who had almost fallen out of bounds, looked at Su-hyeon landing back in the arena by stepping on a Mana Shield.
"Truly impressive. To think that a gravity field that even twisted Instructor Gu Hyeong-min's light bullet would be pushed back on my side instead."
That meant it was time to bring out the next move.
Woooong.
Behind Seo Jun-seong's arms, a semi-transparent pair of arm-shaped forms appeared like an aura.
"Whoa, what's that now?"
"How high must the density of telekinesis be to create something like that?"
'...That's it.'
Hwang Ji-su bit her lip.
'Even my strength couldn't handle Seo Jun-seong's telekinesis in that state.'
And it would be the same for Su-hyeon's body, even with its output increased by the doping skill.
"Here I come."
Seo Jun-seong swung the giant arms created by telekinesis as he descended.
Booooom!
The head of the general affairs department screamed as he watched the arena explode as if it had been bombed by a bomber.
"You bastard, at this rate even the spectator seats will all be destroyed!"
Your tuition was already used up for repair costs long ago!
Whether the general affairs manager swallowed his inner screams or not.
'I can't hear it.'
Seo Jun-seong's vision and sixth sense, focused solely on defeating Su-hyeon before him, were fixed only on Su-hyeon's whereabouts.
'Behind? No, he'll jump up above my head!'
With that single judgment, Seo Jun-seong accurately found Su-hyeon's position and smiled.
"Got you."
Booooom!
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At the moment when Seo Jun-seong's arm created by telekinesis struck me like swatting a fly.
The price of receiving an attack that came at a timing impossible to avoid with just my right arm was severe.
"Kuuu."
I touched my ruined right arm and frowned at the excruciating pain like having my nerves raked with pliers.
'Dislocation, fracture, and ligament damage. I won't be able to use my right arm anymore in this fight.'
Even with the monstrous recovery ability of Unlimited, plus treatment from Song Yu-ha or Instructor Jang Jin-won, it would take more than a week for complete recovery.
'This is a setback. How long has it been since I've sustained an injury of this magnitude?'
It was the first time since my arm was broken by Oh Chang-seong during the entrance exam.
'But if the damage then was 10, now it would be 50. My arm feels like it's been turned into a rag.'
The pain that even now was stabbing my brain through my nerves in real-time.
Not fainting from it would have been impossible without the endurance derived from my characteristic.
But.
Of course, I didn't just take it passively.
'It landed properly.'
A front kick as sharp as a spear thrust.
While sacrificing my arm, I had succeeded in accurately striking Seo Jun-seong's solar plexus with a simultaneous attack.
"Kuhek!"
Seo Jun-seong, who had flown far away, got up while vomiting blood.
"What? What just happened?"
"Why did Seo Jun-seong collapse?"
"Kuk."
I smiled at Seo Jun-seong, who was staggering as if dizzy.
"You're weak to hits. That's probably because you've never been hit in your life."
"Huuk, huuk."
Seo Jun-seong, who had taken a severe impact.
Me, with my right arm shattered.
'I guess we're about even?'
What was clear was that neither of us had the capacity to drag this fight out much longer.
"Let's wrap this up now."
And so the fight entered its final phase in an instant.
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'I can't use Liberation anymore.'
Su-hyeon thought.
Liberation, which draws out the body's reserves, would be a suicidal act that destroys one's own body if used in a severely injured state like now.
'No matter how I look at it, I really took a solid hit.'
Su-hyeon swallowed a sigh in his throat.
'To think he would read the pattern there and react one step ahead.'
Indeed, Seo Jun-seong's intelligence was outstanding.
'I was careless, that's true. But.'
Su-hyeon's eyes flashed with fighting spirit.
'Turning the situation around with a fresh approach in such an extreme situation is the virtue of a stagnant waters player.'
...In some sense, that was closer to madness than fighting spirit.
"Seo Jun-seong, I'm having fun right now."
With less than 20% of his mana remaining in his body.
And unable to use his sword or right arm, his available tactics were greatly reduced, but.
Not being able to use one arm was familiar territory for Su-hyeon.
"You really aren't normal."
Seo Jun-seong laughed dryly as if disgusted.
"Neither are you."
Woong!
Su-hyeon, who had drawn up all his remaining mana to form a giant Mana Shield like a body bunker, charged straight at Seo Jun-seong.
'He's steadfast!'
A speed that seemed to feel no pressure from the telekinesis pushing against him.
When Su-hyeon abandoned evasive maneuvers and chose a lightning attack, his momentum was like watching a medium tank's charge.
"That bastard, where does he get such strength from!"
Hong In-hyeon marveled.
"Amazing. Even with a broken arm."
"Doesn't he feel pain?"
Lee Yu-jin and Kwon Seung-yeon burst into admiration.
"That kid is just tough, I tell you."
Lee Ho-seung laughed.
"That's my disciple for you."
'He probably can't use those giant arms.'
Su-hyeon judged from the accumulated damage and reduced mana amount that Seo Jun-seong wouldn't be able to launch an attack with maximum firepower.
That judgment was extremely accurate.
'Damn it!'
To spread a gravity field to block Su-hyeon's advance, the distance between them was too close.
Rumble!
In the end, Seo Jun-seong chose the method of gathering tile fragments and shooting them like a whirlwind.
'That technique looks just like what In-hyeon uses.'
Lee Yu-jin thought.
'I'll smash and break your left arm too!'
What Seo Jun-seong was aiming for was Su-hyeon's left fist flying toward his face with a Mana Shield.
'I'm not one to lose to your fist that can't properly put strength into it right now.'
The judgment Seo Jun-seong made at this point was as accurate as could be.
If his opponent hadn't been Su-hyeon.
'What?!'
Seo Jun-seong's eyes widened as he saw Su-hyeon suddenly withdraw the left hand straight that was about to strike his face.
'What is he thinking? No, surely not with his broken right arm...!?'
Seo Jun-seong's thoughts went that far.
Boom!
Su-hyeon, who rammed into Seo Jun-seong with his right shoulder instead of his arm, screamed inwardly as he bit through the oncoming pain with tenacity.
'It hurts like hell!'
Despite the urge to faint right now.
'Damn it, I have to block somehow...!'
Instead of immediately delivering a follow-up attack, Su-hyeon showed his back to Seo Jun-seong.
'What?'
At that moment.
Whaaack!
A critical right back roundhouse kick from an unexpected trajectory struck Seo Jun-seong's abdomen, smashing his body right into the wall.
Booooom!
And Seo Jun-seong could no longer move.
[...The match is over! Jeong Su-hyeon's victory!]
"Woooooaaaaaah!"
"Jeong Su-hyeon won!"
"That crazy bastard!"
[You have claimed victory in the final tournament!]
[9P skill points have been awarded!]
[You have achieved victory over the strongest first-year, Cadet Seo Jun-seong!]
[Great achievement! The first semester's top student position is yours!]
[Your name will shake the industry!]
[Achievement points 1300 awarded!]
"Haa. Haa."
While looking at the numerous status windows.
Su-hyeon smiled toward Min Hae-na, who was watching him from a corner of the spectator seats.
'You're next.'