I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 167 : The Golden Insignia (5)

"You guard the escape route."

"Got it, leave it to me."

Having entrusted Kwon Seung-yeon with the escape route and cornered Kang Woojung, Su-hyeon approached him slowly.

'The current Kwon Seung-yeon can't beat that guy. But she can stall for a while and drag things out.'

"Kang Woojung. Hand over that Golden Insignia to me now."

Surrounded on both sides in a dead-end alley.

Not knowing when security guards might rush in, or when other pursuers might join.

But Kang Woojung, filled with rage, merely twisted his mouth into a smirk and burned with fighting spirit.

"Don't talk shit."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Get lost. How would I know that?"

When Su-hyeon removed the mask covering his face, Kang Woojung's eyes widened.

"You!"

"If you hadn't run away then, I wouldn't have had to chase you all the way here."

"......!"

Kang Woojung, who had been most shocked today, spoke in a somewhat playful voice like he did on the train.

"Hey hey, if I had stayed, everyone would have discovered I had the insignia. I had no choice, you know?"

"The right to the item you originally obtained belonged to you. You were just wary of rumors spreading and other trackers following you."

"Yeah. That's right. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

To Kang Woojung's words expressing his grievance and frustration.

"I wouldn't have."

Su-hyeon answered firmly.

"That's ridiculous. If you were in my shoes......"

"You've killed quite a lot."

Abruptly.

At those words, Kang Woojung's expression hardened again.

"Kang Woojung. I've already heard about your past actions."

"Hehehehehehe."

Kang Woojung laughed like a deranged person and tilted his head sideways.

"Yeah, that's right. So what?"

Seeing the murky light in his eyes.

"Just as I thought."

Su-hyeon said.

"You've already been considerably consumed by demonic energy."

"Hahaha. Listen, kid. Let me ask you one more time."

Kang Woojung laughed.

"So what?"

"I'll subdue you and gratefully take the vault."

"Hehehehehe. Fuck, a kid whose blood hasn't even dried behind your ears is already scheming."

Kang Woojung's eyes darkened further.

'Demonic transformation has progressed almost 80 percent.'

A common fate for hunters who didn't hesitate to spill blood.

"You think I'll let that happen?"

"Your will isn't what matters here."

The conversation ended there.

Ssaeng!

Though inferior in quality to the Moonless Sword, the fairly sturdy sword still withstood Su-hyeon's flying strike.

'This bastard uses that too!'

Kang Woojung avoided the flying strike with light movements and closed the distance with Su-hyeon.

'If that hits, losing an arm would be nothing.'

As he felt on the train, this was truly no ordinary opponent.

'Good at hand-to-hand combat and skilled with a sword too? What an incredible bastard.'

But that was the extent of it.

He was confident he could subdue Su-hyeon and escape from here.

'Well, this should be good enough to use.'

Kang Woojung picked up a fallen stake and imbued it with aura.

"Here I come."

Kakakakakang!

Kang Woojung's fierce attack rained down, but Su-hyeon, who had activated his Eye Power, parried those attacks precisely and closed the distance.

"Who said you could approach!"

Kang Woojung maintained his distance through rotational up-down-left-right movements and continued to press Su-hyeon.

'That man is incredibly strong too!'

Kwon Seung-yeon clenched her hands in anticipation.

'But Su-hyeon fighting so well against such an opponent is also amazing.'

It seemed like just yesterday she was admiring his match with Min Hae-na.

She could see he had grown a level beyond that time.

'What's with those flying slashes? When did he learn something like that?'

Kakak!

Su-hyeon deflected an attack aimed at his collarbone using his wrists, closed the distance, and launched a counterattack.

Kang Woojung, who had dodged the attack by splitting his legs and lowering his body, spun around once, stood up, and struck Su-hyeon's legs.

Kaang!

Su-hyeon parried with a powerful slash and struck Kang Woojung's thigh with a whip-like outside low kick.

Jjaak!

Kang Woojung, who deflected the damage by swaying his entire body like a willow tree, swung the stake in a strange trajectory to stab Su-hyeon's face.

Shook!

Su-hyeon avoided the thrust by bending his body far back, but when he prepared for the next exchange, Kang Woojung had already retreated.

"That was nimble."

"Hehe, you're pretty good too."

Kang Woojung smiled.

"Then I won't hold back anymore either."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Just watch. I'll thoroughly beat the spirit out of you."

The secret to how Kang Woojung escaped from the train, evaded Kwak Hyeok-jung and Ha Jin-su's pursuit, and managed to sneak into the black market.

It lay in his characteristic.

Characteristic, 'Position Swap'.

The ability to swap positions between himself and objects not fixed to the ground.

"Eat this!"

Kang Woojung gathered several pebbles and threw them at Su-hyeon.

'What's he trying to do?'

Su-hyeon was wary since Kang Woojung wasn't the type to not know that stones without mana infusion couldn't even be a threat.

'Hmm? This is!'

Kang Woojung pounced on Su-hyeon like an illusion, repeatedly swapping positions with those pebbles.

After changing positions eight times, Kang Woojung thrust from Su-hyeon's bottom right.

Bwoong!

'Ultimately there's only one physical body. If I just observe until the end, I can respond.'

Seeing Su-hyeon dodge even this unexpected attack, Kang Woojung burst into laughter.

"Haha, try dodging this too!"

Kang Woojung picked up pebbles and threw them again, this time appearing behind Su-hyeon.

'From behind!'

The moment Kang Woojung disappeared from view, Su-hyeon guarded his rear, quickly turned his body, and again blocked the sharp attack.

Kakakak!

'This bastard, he reacted to this too?'

'Is it similar to Nam Tae-hoon's shadow movement? What an annoying characteristic.'

Surprise appeared simultaneously in the eyes of both men.

'Hmph, even so.'

Realizing that Su-hyeon was guarding his rear, Kang Woojung retreated significantly and scattered pebbles randomly again.

Shashak.

His figure disappeared.

Reflexively guarding his rear, Su-hyeon turned around but couldn't see Kang Woojung there either.

'The front? No, above!'

With a split-second judgment of the position, Su-hyeon looked up.

Kaaaang!

Su-hyeon's arms trembled as he blocked the stake being swung down with full force.

'Incredible power!'

When his attack was blocked, Kang Woojung employed kicking techniques, kicked Su-hyeon's chest, then disappeared again, changing positions front-back-left-right and unleashing dazzling attacks.

Kakakakakakang!

Su-hyeon, struggling even to parry and dodge attacks, continued to be pushed back.

'Damn, he's not only extremely skilled but also has a tricky characteristic. This type is the most troublesome.'

Su-hyeon thought.

Moreover, in terms of strength alone, he felt almost equal to Ko Kyeong-ho, whom he had barely managed to kill.

'And to think he had concealed such a characteristic so tightly.'

Su-hyeon thought it was no wonder he had survived this long.

With this level of caution and cunning, plus his skill at fighting and escaping so well in the train and black market even without using his characteristic.

'If he had walked the right path, he could have become an exceptional talent anywhere with his abilities.'

But now this man was just a murderer and fugitive, a fallen hunter on the verge of becoming a Ma-in.

'Bear the consequences of your choices willingly.'

Just as a certain determination settled in Su-hyeon's eyes.

"Kuk!"

Seizing a momentary gap, Kang Woojung kicked Su-hyeon's wrist, causing him to drop his sword.

'Damn!'

"Hehehe, well received!"

Kang Woojung, who had recovered the sword, emanated intense sword energy.

"Dual-wielding with a stake and sword, it's been a while since I've done this!"

'Damn it.'

Su-hyeon activated Tachypsychia Mode and thickly covered both arms with Mana Shield.

"Die, you bastard!"

Kang Woojung, believing he had gained the upper hand, charged in, but.

'I can see it.'

Su-hyeon's enhanced dynamic vision was stretching even momentary instants into long periods.

Bwoong!

Avoiding the stake and parrying the following attack with his arm.

Retreating to dodge consecutive attacks while maintaining distance.

Chaaak!

Evading the low sweeping kick while thrusting the sword.

Tak!

Su-hyeon blocked the stake with his arm, smoothly closed the distance, grabbed the arm, threw him down using his waist, and twisted the wrist to take away the stake.

"Kuk?!"

Having his weapon taken away by martial arts reminiscent of aikido, Kang Woojung hurriedly used his ability to escape from Su-hyeon.

'Damn, if I had delayed a little more, my arm would have been broken.'

Kang Woojung, with a chill down his spine, sighed and gathered his strength again.

Shak!

Kang Woojung, activating his characteristic again, appeared outside Su-hyeon's field of vision and attempted a simple downward slash, but.

Bwoong!

'What!?'

With unbelievable dynamic vision and reflexes, Su-hyeon had already moved out of the sword's trajectory, grabbed Kang Woojung's wrist, and moved behind him.

'Damn, he dodged this too!'

Just as his attack missed, Kang Woojung's body, caught in Su-hyeon's martial arts technique, was thrown into the air.

"Kueok!"

As Kang Woojung gasped for air after receiving tremendous impact from hitting the ground, Su-hyeon's merciless soccer kick flew toward his face.

Bweoeong!

Kang Woojung, who barely raised his guard to block it, flew at least 5 meters and crashed into the wall.

Kwaaang!

Pain as if his head was spinning, the shock of having his sword taken, being thrown to the ground, and being hit without even knowing what had happened.

"Shit, this is absurd."

Kang Woojung laughed as if deranged.

Even when he attacked with his signature dual-wielding, it was he who received damage instead.

Earlier, he had also pathetically lost his sword to the cloaked figure and nearly died.

And now to such a young brat!

"Hehehehe, this feels really shitty."

Ptui!

Kang Woojung, who spat out two broken molars, continued to laugh.

"Shit. Why are you guys doing this to me? Huh? You fucking bastards."

His murmurs grew increasingly filled with madness and anger.

Gugugu.

The ominously fluctuating mana and the thickly undulating black aura made Su-hyeon feel a sense of foreboding.

'Could it be?'

"Shit, shit!!! I'll kill you all!"

The moment Kang Woojung's shout resounded powerfully as if it would tear the air.

'This bastard!'

"Hehehehe."

Kang Woojung's eyes were completely dyed black.

"Ah~ So this is how it feels. Not bad at all?"

Ma-in transformation.

The mutation that occurs when accumulated demonic energy turns into demonic nature, and one loses resistance.

An enemy of humanity engulfed in ferocious power and blind murderous impulses.

Su-hyeon's eyes grew cold watching Kang Woojung, who had finally given up on being human.

"......So you couldn't overcome the demonic nature after all."

"Hehehehe. I'm overflowing with power. The feeling that I can do anything, the feeling that I can kill anyone, and."

Kang Woojung, whose demeanor had completely changed, glared at Su-hyeon and said in a low voice.

"The feeling that I want to kill everyone."

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

A cold sweat trickled down my spine as I observed Kang Woojung who had achieved Ma-in transformation.

'Damn. He was already strong, and now his power has increased tremendously through Ma-in transformation.'

Judging by the momentum of the demonic energy I sensed.

Right now, his simple physical specs might surpass Kwak Hyeok-jung and perhaps even rival Ha Jin-su.

'What a goddamn annoying bastard.'

Not only was he nearly impossible to catch.

Now seeing Kang Woojung power up through Ma-in transformation, I couldn't help but sigh.

'It feels like a Hell difficulty mode has been unlocked.'

But what could I do?

There was no choice but to crush every obstacle in my way and move forward.

"Huuu."

I expelled my thoughts and irritation with a sigh and took a step toward the Ma-in in front of me, who was emitting overwhelming murderous intent.

"It's been long. Let's settle this now, Kang Woojung."

"Hehehe. No matter what happens, I will definitely kill you."

Ma-in Kang Woojung.

The final summit to mark the end of this long pursuit was right before me.