Chapter 55: Choi Ji-Won is Too Strong (6)

 

“...”

 

It’s a critical moment for regression - There couldn’t be a more crucial point for regression than this.

 

Choi Ji-won was too strong, too skilled in battle. So much so, that the city’s master was cornered.

 

And that was the problem.

 

If only Choi Ji-won’s final strike had succeeded. But, cornered, the city’s master activated a hidden ace, the ‘Heart of Lightning.’

 

- Heart of Lightning [S]

 

Upon activation, it expends all your mana and replaces it with lightning attribute mana. It greatly enhances all physical abilities, including reaction speed, and every attack you make inflicts additional lightning damage. While the effect lasts, the user continually takes damage, and the ‘Heart of Lightning’ remains active until all the lightning mana is exhausted.

 

I’m not sure if the Heart of Lightning used by the city’s master is exactly like the trait I was offered as a reward.

 

But... one thing was certain. Right now, winning a fight against that woman is impossible.

 

The moment Choi Ji-won’s strike missed, this round was doomed to failure.

 

As I resigned myself and was about to regress, chewing my lips in frustration...

 

“Damn it... Ji-won...”

 

Firefighter Park Cheol-jin, deep in thought, caught my eye.

 

Then, Choi Ji-won, trembling, slowly rising to her feet, caught my eye.

 

“...”

 

Suddenly, I felt ashamed.

 

They are doing their best right now.

 

Even though it would be okay to just ignore the residents on the second floor and move up to the third…

 

For the greater good, they are pouring out everything they have.

 

But what about me?

 

As soon as I realized we had lost, I started thinking about regressing.

 

Looking back, it’s been like this ever since I came to the second floor.

 

In the tutorial, I was forced to regress more often, but on the second floor, the rule against violence allowed me to choose regression.

 

“The sense of desperation is gone.”

 

Where did the me who gambled to scrape up even one more piece of information until the end go? Now, there’s a complacent me thinking it’s just fine to start over.

 

I was about to casually destroy the results that Choi Ji-won, Park Cheol-jin, and the residents worked hard to build.

 

I can’t give up like this. I must do something.

 

‘Don’t stop thinking. Don’t give up.’

 

Think. There must be a plausible way.

 

A way...

 

A way to change this situation...

 

“Ah.”

 

There was one.

 

“Mr. Cheol-jin.”

 

“Uh... Ah, what’s up?”

 

“Just wait a moment, please. Baron Licht, follow me.”

 

I turned around and started running into the winding alleyways.

 

‘That full leather armor…’

 

The full leather armor Choi Ji-won said she didn’t need; I needed it.

 

***

 

“Give up.”

 

Choi Ji-won’s arms were still trembling slightly.

 

“Just run away.”

 

She could taste blood in her mouth from gritting her teeth.

 

“...”

 

Choi Ji-won herself felt the absurdity of the monster she was facing.

 

She knew that if this woman seriously exerted her power, she would be reduced to ashes in an instant.

 

Yet, she didn’t back down.

 

Slowly taking a middle guard stance, she gripped her weapon tightly.

 

That was Choi Ji-won. A woman who, once she sets a goal, never gives up.

 

“Haap!”

 

With such a shout, Choi Ji-won mustered all her remaining strength and charged at the city’s master.

 

“If you insist on drinking the bitter cup.”

 

Before she could even take a step,

 

Flash!

 

A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, aiming directly above Choi Ji-won’s head.

 

“Ah.”

 

Park Cheol-jin sighed.

 

Choi Ji-won was falling, her weapon slipping from her grasp.

 

“I won’t kill you. The archangel wouldn’t like it.”

 

Just one hit.

 

That’s all it took to subdue Choi Ji-won.

 

“Next are you guys.”

 

The city’s master’s gaze turned to the players who had been watching the fight from the alleyway.

 

“Damn it...”

 

“Ah, nooo!”

 

The players, attempting to flee, were all struck down by heavenly punishment from above, falling unconscious.

 

“Weren’t you guys enjoying yourself? Did I look like an animal in a zoo to you?”

 

Clear, blue sky. A cluster of fluffy clouds drifting. Warm sunshine.

 

Zzzzzzz!

 

Lightning striking the square. Deafening thunder. Stones scattering everywhere. Screams.

 

A disaster. This was a catastrophe.

 

How much time had passed?

 

The only one standing in the square was the city’s master. The players had long since passed out.

 

“Uh, ugh...”

 

Park Cheol-jin, along with a few high-level players, managed to remain conscious... but that was it.

 

They couldn’t even twitch a finger. Completely incapacitated.

 

“…This is it.”

 

The city’s master was savoring the silence. She had won. Triumphed.

 

The victory might have come with an excessive show of force, but it was better than defeat. After all, she was the master of the city.

 

“Now, how to clean up this mess...”

 

Footsteps broke the silence, causing the city’s master to frown.

 

“…The one who ran away earlier?”

 

Fully covered in thick leather armor, not an inch of skin visible, with a large hood concealing the face. A figure slowly walked toward the center of the square, attracting the remaining audience’s gaze.

 

“...Jun-ho?”

 

Firefighter Park Cheol-jin immediately recognized the armor.

 

It was something Kim Jun-ho had proposed during a past discussion about how to oppose the city’s master -  His idea was to wrap the entire body in leather to shield against the lightning’s damage.

 

“Indeed... if it’s leather armor...”

 

“I may be a humanities major, but I know enough to realize leather doesn’t conduct electricity...!”

 

The downed players nodded in agreement, acknowledging the soundness of the idea.

 

“...”

 

On the other hand, Park Cheol-jin was skeptical.

 

The opponent was too powerful.

 

In the presence of the city’s master, exuding the grandeur of a god of lightning, would leather armor be of any significance?

 

To step forward, relying solely on thick leather armor, seemed futile against the overwhelming might of the city’s master.

 

“...”

 

But Park Cheol-jin couldn’t dissuade the man before him. Some things are understood without words.

 

The man’s steps were filled with determination. Even if told to stop, he likely wouldn’t listen.

 

Thud. Thud.

 

Armed only with a sword, the man approached the city’s master.

 

Whoosh!

 

Gripping a longsword, he charged at the city’s master.

 

What is courage?

 

It’s an emotion that makes possible what everyone can do, but not everyone dares to.

 

Facing a monster spewing lightning wildly, he dared to challenge it with just a sword.

 

Simply because he believed it was the right thing to do.

 

At this moment.

 

He was truly brave.

 

“Mr. Jun-ho...!”

 

The moment Park Cheol-jin reflexively reached out his hand.

 

“Disappear.”

 

Boom!

 

A bolt of lightning from the sky blinded Park Cheol-jin’s sight.

 

“...”

 

After a brief moment.

 

As Park Cheol-jin’s vision cleared, furrowed with worry…

 

“Ah...”

 

In the center of the square lay the man, sprawled out ungracefully, emitting smoke.

 

“You didn’t really think it would work, did you?”

 

The last strand of hope vanished.

 

Park Cheol-jin’s head drooped. Tears fell, wetting the parched stone ground.

 

It was a complete defeat.

 

“Hoo...”

 

The city’s master, regaining composure, massaged the back of her neck. Had she ever used so much magic power before?

 

Was it the overuse of power? Even the sparks jumping from the armor had disappeared.

 

‘That was close.’

 

The price for impulsively using ‘Heart of Lightning’ was a body aching crazily all over. Had she not deactivated it early, she would’ve needed more than just a few days of recovery.

 

Normally, ‘Heart of Lightning’ can’t be deactivated until all mana is exhausted.

 

However, the city’s master’s mana was inherently of the lightning attribute. With enough mana, she could quell the storm and deactivate the ‘Heart of Lightning.’

 

Though almost all her magic was depleted... It was fine. She had made an example out of the climbers.

 

“Should’ve known the difference between courage and recklessness.”

 

The city’s master approached the fallen man. The closer she got, the stronger the smell of burnt flesh. Still, she had controlled her power enough to ensure he was only knocked out.

 

“Let’s see who you are.”

 

She was curious to see the face of the foolish man who dared oppose her, trusting only in his leather scraps.

 

Flipping the fallen man over with her foot and pulling back his hood, she revealed his face.

 

And there it was, just as she imagined, the unimpressive face of a man.

 

“It looks good. Beard burned and curled up like that.”

 

The city’s master sneered.

 

“...Huh?”

 

Firefighter Park Cheol-jin’s expression contorted strangely.

 

Beard? Did Kim Jun-ho have a beard?

 

Struggling to his feet, Park Cheol-jin hurried to see the man’s face.

 

“...Tanner?”

 

The tanner, who said he’d rather die than let the city’s master win, lay unconscious, having lost consciousness.

 

Not Kim Jun-ho.

 

Then, where is…?

 

As Park Cheol-jin frantically searched for Kim Jun-ho, his gaze suddenly fixed.

 

Everyone was so focused on the man in the leather armor that they hadn’t noticed the narrow alleyway behind him.

 

“...”

 

In the dim alley.

 

Kim Jun-ho, crouched down and poised, was glaring at the city’s master, and...

 

“Huff, huff...”

 

Baron Licht, panting heavily, had his hand on Jun-ho’s back.

 

Only then did the formidable presence become apparent.

 

An aura that seemed to engulf the surrounding space. Eyes blazing with intensity.

 

“That’s...”

 

The stronger players, including Park Cheol-jin, recognized the stance.

 

It was the same one used by the city’s master when cornering Choi Ji-won - The technique that allowed her to move with a speed invisible to the naked eye.

 

“Could it be...!”

 

Had he learned the technique just by watching, in such a short time? Logically, it seemed impossible.

 

“But...”

 

Considering what he showed in the tutorial.

 

The man who effortlessly slashed the neck of the seemingly invincible Minotaur.

 

Somehow, it seemed plausible.

 

“This is my limit. There’s no point in gathering more mana.”

 

Blood streamed down Baron Licht’s nose.

 

“...Huh?”

 

Just as the city’s master shifted her gaze to the mouth of the alleyway.

 

“You let your guard down.”

 

Kim Jun-ho, who had been in position, vanished.

 

A single long streak crossed the clearing.

 

Silence.

 

Complete silence descended upon the square.

 

“...”

 

Park Cheol-jin gaped, as if he had forgotten how to breathe.

 

Some players rubbed their eyes, thinking they had seen an illusion.

 

Kim Jun-ho stood far beyond the city’s master.

 

“Huff, huff, huff...”

 

His legs trembled uncontrollably, and his pale face gasping for air indicated he was in terrible condition.

 

In contrast, the city’s master stood tall.

 

Her armor was intact, except for the part dented by Choi Ji-won, and her skin showed no visible wounds.

 

“Was it a failure...”

 

Had the attack been missed?

 

As the players were mired in confusion and doubts.

 

“Huff... Haha...”

 

Kim Jun-ho, pale-faced, managed a faint smile.

 

“...Huh?”

 

Park Cheol-jin finally noticed something had changed.

 

In Kim Jun-ho’s hand was a brown object.

 

A familiar design. It was the same pouch that had been hanging at the city’s master’s waist.

 

Kim Jun-ho peeked into the pouch.

 

“...Is this also an item? It’s bigger inside than I thought.”

 

After inspecting the contents, he quickly turned the pouch inside out, shaking it vigorously.

 

Tinkling.

 

A small box, shining like a diamond, fell from the pouch.

 

Its shape was identical to the bronze, silver, and gold boxes they had seen before.

 

“...”

 

The city’s master, gazing emotionlessly at the box, slowly knelt down, and in a voice laced with tears, whispered softly.

 

“Thank you...”

 

In the bruised square, amidst the smell of burning and swirling dust…

 

The only sound breaking the silence was the woman’s sobbing.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

 

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