Episode 65

The silence stretched for a while.

Honestly, Seol-Hwi had never thought that silence would ever be a positive sign for him. However, this time it meant that Bigun couldn’t immediately jump to a conclusion, despite watching Seol-Hwi kill the Private Guards with his own two eyes.

The Hidden Truth Corps had many enemies. They always had to be wary.

“…Who are you talking about?”

Bigun’s confidence seemed to be crumbling. Seol-Hwi had lived for a long time, and he knew how to use his enemy’s psyche against him.

“Who do you think it is?” Seol-Hwi didn’t actually care about the answer—he was more interested in the answers Bigun didn’t tell him. Seol-Hwi had been a member of the Hidden Truth long enough to know how to pick out the suspicious points. If he was lucky…

“You’re talking about the Supreme Pavilion Lord, aren’t you? I see.”

…What?! Seol-Hwi reeled. He managed to keep it from showing on his face, but he couldn’t calm down. That was the bastard who treated Seol-Hwi like a dog. He owed the Supreme Pavilion Lord several times over for driving him to his death.

“But… he has no reason to move right now,” Bigun said.

Seol-Hwi examined Bigun intently. He had no idea what the other man was saying, but he was desperate to find something. He had to figure out what his opponent didn’t know and capitalize on it.

“…I don’t know.” Seol-Hwi raised his head. Despite not having the upper hand, he led the conversation with confidence. He may not be the most well-informed person in the sect, but he knew the Supreme Pavilion Lord better than anyone else. “But I may know the secrets he’s trying to hide.”

Bigun’s eyebrows trembled ever so slightly, unable to hide his shock. The two men stared at each other for a long moment before Bigun’s head dropped.

“Well, if we think about it, there are a lot of suspicious points. Someone wandered around with no affiliation with the Supreme Pavilion Lord, and then he became vice-captain. And they say you’re strong enough to be a grandmaster. All of our people are talented, but the ones who went up against you were fighting a losing battle.”

Bigun was confident. It took a lot of experience to throw insults without letting them rebut, after all. He was trying to make Seol-Hwi acknowledge that he was strong, as well as make him admit that he was the culprit.

Seol-Hwi, however, was laughing inside.

So petty. He’d heard clever little insults like this too many times in the Supreme Pavilion. This didn’t even qualify as a provocation to him.

“You’re right. He was in the Supreme Pavilion, but he’s no defector. He never belonged to the man. Also, I’m not skilled enough to easily overpower people, but now that you say that…” Seol-hwi shook his head and peered at Bigun. “How pathetic is it for you to lose two of your best but not be able to deal with the one spy? I heard that your men couldn’t handle their lust when Seo Ryeong touched them. Is the entire Private Guard like this?”

“—What? You bastard!” Bigun slammed his hand against the table. Killing intent rose clearly from his body.

I can’t let him push me here. Seol-Hwi was determined to remain tranquil despite Bigun’s provocation. Besides which, Bigun couldn’t even insult Seol-Hwi to his face, even though he was convinced that Seol-Hwi was the culprit.

Bigun [Captain of the Private Guards]

Health: 5.5 million

Internal Energy: 4.2 million

Combat Power: 6.37 million (+12% when enraged)

He’s got considerable combat power, but…

Seol-hwi [Vice-Captain of the Hidden Truth Corps]

Health: 710k

Internal Energy: 1.21 million

Combat Power: 5.91 million

Even so, Seol-Hwi didn’t want to show that he was willing to fight. As his opponent would know, the one who attacked first is the one in trouble. If either one of them was injured or died, there would be severe punishments.

“Cheeky bastard.” Bigun’s voice rose and the air shuddered. “I guess your tongue is the reason why the Earth Demon appointed you as vice-captain… One day it’s going to get cut short.”

He stomped away angrily.

Phew. Seol-Hwi breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Bigun’s killing intent fade into the distance. He didn’t want to deal with such a direct confrontation like that again, even if he was prepared. Regardless of their strength, Bigun was his superior in terms of experience.

Seol-Hwi had best be organized and ready.

<Bigun is about to leave. Do you want to let him go?>

▶ Let him go.

▷ Call out to him.

What? Why? This was hardly normal. If he was being given choices, he had to be missing something.

Actually, that wasn’t strictly true. Sometimes the system did things for no reason. Still, he had to make a choice.

What do I choose…?

After much thought, he settled on the second choice.

It wouldn’t be bad to see what comes next. If he was lucky, he’d hear something about the Supreme Pavilion.

<You have selected “Call out to him.”>

Bigun turned around.

“What else is there to say?”

Seol-Hwi waited for the next choice to appear, but when it didn’t, he became flustered. He turned to Bigun and—

<Select a choice from below.>

▶ Bow your head and say, “Please let me work under you.”

What is this? It was absurd, but the second option was…

▶ (´▽`)ﾉ

Ahhhh! That face gave him nightmares.

9… 8…

▶ Bow your head and say, “Please let me work under you.”

▷ (´▽`)ﾉ

This cursed bastard is trying to start a fight! The choice was clearly between humiliation and provocation.

I don’t understand what that face means!

If he chose the face, though, he’d be killed immediately.

3… 2…

Ah, time…!

No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t make sense. It was way different from how the conversation a minute ago went.

Damn it, what do you want from me?!

Seol-Hwi finally made his choice.

<You have selected “(´▽`)ﾉ.”>

Seol-Hwi had a sinking feeling that things were not going his way. No, to be honest…

“You dog…!” Bigun’s face flushed.

<Your opponent had demonstrated Killing Intent. Combat Power increased.>

Combat Power: 7.1 million(↑12%)

Bigun rushed at him with his knife.

“Die! Die, you bastard!”

And the light faded.

Seol-Hwi wasn’t the only one suffering. As soon as he’d selected the face, Seol-Hwi changed his combat mode.

Combat Mode: <Simulation>

His instincts went off as soon as Bigun started screaming, and he started the simulation immediately.

<Analyzing Seol-Hwi’s martial arts.>

It went through the analysis process.

<Analysis complete.>

A cloud of illusions appeared in front of him, searching for the optimal path.

Wait. If I do this… Unless he was stronger than Seol-Hwi, the simulation would show Seol-Hwi the best way to kill Bigun. If he died, Seol-Hwi would have to take responsibility—that was exactly why he didn’t want to fight Bigun in the first place.

<Move to the right and use the Flaring Heat Fist Demonic Martial Arts for 2 seconds while moving.>

<Draw sword and cut diagonally to the left.>

Regardless of what Seol-Hwi thought, the results were out. He knew it wouldn’t work perfectly if he didn’t kill his opponent.

<Time resumes.>

So, as Bigun rushed forward, Seol-Hwi followed the simulation’s instructions exactly. He used the Fire Dragon Flash and shot his burning first out.

His fist slammed into Bigun with a roar, sending him staggering back covered in flames, just as the simulation predicted. Bigun wanted to strike back immediately, but hesitated because of the heat. The Fire Dragon Flash was blazing hot and burned fiercely enough to cover everything in flames, especially in a small room like this.

Seol-Hwi immediately drew his sword, but, departing from the simulation, he didn’t swing it with the intent of killing Bigun.

“Wow!” Bigun tried to escape by smashing through the wall. Nevertheless, the blow landed and sliced through his thigh.

“H-How…” Bigun stumbled into the yard, shock plainly written on his face. It seemed Seol-Hwi had escaped his expectations.

<Critical strike! Seol-Hwi inflicted 700k damage to Bigun.>

Bigun [Captain of the Private Guards]

Health: 4.8 million(↓700k)/5.5 million

It was quite a significant drop.

Having used the simulation once, it was time for Seol-Hwi to change the combat mode—into one where he’d have control.

Combat Mode: <Turn-Based>

“I have an odd question.” Seol-Hwi slowly walked through the broken wall while the still-shocked Bigun watched. “Still, I hope you don’t get me wrong.”

He didn’t care, honestly. He couldn’t say if it was appropriate or convincing either, but he had things to do.

“Can you tell me what I just said?”

Who could tell him what that odd “(´▽`)ﾉ” meant?