Chapter 17. He Sure is Strong

Kim Do-Joon possessed three major assets.

The first was the collection of item effects that he had absorbed from his potions, his additional attack power, and his stat runes.

Second, he had his equipment—the transparent gloves made from the Scaly Skin of the Glass Snake and the Young Kujika Tribesmen's Broadaxe.

Third was his passive, the Ice Mana Core.

Of his three, the third was nothing out of the ordinary; every examinee had their own skills to boast. His equipment, too, was safely stored away inside his inventory since personal equipment could not be used during the test.

Ultimately, his first asset—the additional effects that he had copy-pasted onto himself—was what made him stand out from the competition.

[Additional Effect]

- Attack Power + 54-81

Among them, the best was undoubtedly his attack power. It could elevate the force of his bare fists beyond what most weapons were capable of. Kim Do-Joon had realized the effect's worth long ago. Therefore, he made sure to copy-paste the attack power of any weapon that made its way out of his random box rewards.

"Oh, it's you again," Kang Jae-Jun greeted.

When Kim Do-Joon encountered him, hailed as the best of their group, he neither tensed nor cursed his misfortune. Without missing a beat, he calmly drew out his baton.

Behind Kang Jae-Jun laid a cohort of four, each person barely hanging on with a threadbare suit that told of the battle they had hopelessly lost. A rescue team made its way onto the scene, carting the fallen away.

Their witness, Kang Jae-Jun, continued with a grin, "There's a saying that goes, simply brushing clothes with another spells fate. So, how about it? Should I go easy on you?"

Confused, Kim Do-Joon asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I don't mind letting you escape. It's not as if I'll have points deducted if I do, you know?"

For Hunters, knowing when to throw in the towel against formidable enemies was itself a valuable skill. The grader would not penalize examinees for making the call, either.

Whether or not it was even necessary was another matter entirely.

[Kang Jae-Jun]

Compatibility

- 23%

He did not find the young man before him the least bit threatening, having faced numerous grander crises thus far. Deciding against his escape, he silently brandished his weapon.

"Sheesh, sir! You're pretty energetic for your age. Still getting it up at night, I hope? Your wife must be pleased."

Kim Do-Joon frowned. He could tolerate a bit of brashness, and it wasn't the younger man's confidence that bothered him, either—he had plenty of reason for his ego, what with his skills belying his youth.

It was his cruel mockery that had crossed the line.

Kim Do-Joon lunged at the smirking Kang Jae-Jun.

"What an impatient fella," he growled.

Kang Jae-Jun met his charge, swiftly summoning and swinging a golden sword. With the shimmer of his blade, he smiled triumphantly.

If he hesitates even a little, I'll switch to my spear and take him out.

Kang Jae-Jun had a simple, prevailing strategy that led him to victory against every team he'd come across. He would lull his opponent into a false ease, letting them assume they'd dodged his attack, only to suddenly change his weapon and strike in their vulnerability.

His newest opponent, too, would startle against his sword and falter, he thought. He hadn't expected that the older man would go against his supposition.

Huh?

Kim Do-Joon accelerated his charge.

In a normal fight, combatants occasionally forewent evasion in favor of pressing forward, disorienting their opponents enough to muddle their aim.

Be that as it may, the same gambit could hardly see success in a battle against somebody wielding a weapon made of pure mana. It was akin to suicide.

It's like he's asking for death!

Was Kim Do-Joon under the assumption that, being charged, Kang Jae-Jun would hesitate and change course to avoid killing him? Kang Jae-Jun glared, feeling belittled.

Truthfully, he hadn't intended to kill the other man. An arm, however, was fair game—the medics on standby could simply reattach a missing limb, after all.

With a scoff, Kang Jae-Jun swung his sword, its gleam more vivid than ever.

"..."

Kim Do-Joon stared intently at the blade, looking every part the trained fighter. His unblinking eyes read his opponent's every movement.

Swish!

"Huh?"

Kang Jae-Jun made for a wild swing, and Kim Do-Joon ducked under its course with nothing but a scant few strands of hair lost in the exchange. Their eyes met: Kang Jae-Jun's wide with surprise, and Kim Do-Joon's cold and calculating.

A chill ran down Kang Jae-Jun's spine. Unnerved, he cried out, "S-shield!"

Clang!

A short, precise strike from Kim Do-Joon's baton shattered his shield of light. Kang Jae-Jun staggered back five steps, wounded but having avoided the worst of it. He looked at his cracked shield, shock coloring his vision.

This can't be happening!

Kang Jae-Jun could output power to the potency of about 1,000, while Kim Do-Joon barely made past 400. Given their Compatibilities, their Mana stats should also have been comparable. How was it that his shield cracked with a single hit?

It went without saying that combat performance relied on more than mere numbers, but it was unthinkable for Kim Do-Joon to completely overwhelm him still. The man in question plainly swung his baton around, looking at Kang Jae-Jun with a dissatisfied expression.

He looked like a predator sizing up his prey.

Kang Jae-Jun instinctively shrunk back, only to startle at his own actions. He bit his lip.

Don't you dare back down, coward! You swore you'd never be a victim again!

He remembered his days as a Laborer, treated like a slave by Hunters who thought him subhuman. The day he awakened his skill, he vowed that he would never let himself return.

"

Hah

... You're pretty good, mister," Kang Jae-Jun spat out, trying to sound confident.

Kim Do-Joon remained calm and unfazed, but Kang Jae-Jun regained some of his spirit. Having spoken up, Kang Jae-Jun found the older man a little less intimidating.

It may very well have been his imagination deceiving him into a false sense of security, but it gave him hope.

Kang Jae-Jun swapped out his shield for his spear, unaware of the fact that he had subconsciously chosen the weapon with the longest reach.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"

Arghhhh!

" Kang Jae-Jun shouted, charging at Kim Do-Joon with his spear of light in hand.

It was a pity that the weapon, for all its power, was matched to an unsteady user. The tip of its blade trembled with his wavering. Kim Do-Joon took advantage and swung his baton, striking the underside of the spearhead.

The spear flew into the air, and Kang Jae-Jun's gaze followed. Suddenly, his vision was filled with darkness, Kim Do-Joon's baton eclipsing it.

Smack!

A blinding flash was the last thing Kang Jae-Jun saw before he blacked out.

"He sure is strong," Kim Do-Joon muttered, looking down at the unconscious figure.

Without a doubt, Kang Jae-Jun had been the strongest opponent he had faced in the exam—the first to make him swing his baton multiple times.

***

"Unbelievable..."

"..."

"There's no way..."

Silence enveloped the room, broken only by the smallest of murmured disbelief and astonishment. Half the room had expected for Kang Jae-Jun to take first place, while the other half was lost in the sauce, either ignorant about the exam or the man felled.

The uncompromising truth of the matter was that the man of the hour had been defeated a mere thirty minutes into the exam. The final scores would not be out for a good while, but any manager with the littlest experience could tell that he was out of the running.

Oh Sang-Jin, having scouted Kang Jae-Jun, was obviously the most affected. Mouth agape, he stood stock-still while staring at the monitors.

"

Haha!

"

"Two billion won! They paid two billion won for him!

Haha!

"

Laughter and mockery erupted inside the room, and Oh Sang-Jin's face turned red as he regained his senses.

"A rookie worth two billion, and he couldn't pass a simple test..."

"They've got themselves an expensive, repeat examinee!"

They had been drooling at the mouth, coveting Kang Jae-Jun's talent just moments ago. Now, that was all whisked away by the wind—the peanut gallery had found a new hobby in gossiping about Oh Sang-Jin's misfortune.

Thump.

The sound of footsteps echoed toward the room. Another manager caught sight of their guest and announced, "It's Kang Jae-Jun!"

All eyes furtively shot toward the furious-looking newcomer, none approaching him.

Oh Sang-Jin gritted his teeth and stepped forward. No matter his misgivings, he was obligated to look after Kang Jae-Jun until he was passed off to the guild's hands.

Kang Jae-Jun was flushed with anger and stormed out of the room while screaming curses. "

Ugh

... Fuck... Fuck!"

"Kang Jae-Jun!" Oh Sang-Jin called out, following him.

Outside, he saw Kang Jae-Jun grabbing an employee by the collar.

"What happened just now, it doesn't count! I took the test on my own while everyone else had a team of three or four! How is that fair?"

Oh Sang-Jin's eyes widened. He remembered how Kang Jae-Jun had been sorted into a team of two yet, for some reason, ended up alone. If it had been a mistake on the part of the Association, or some trick by the Gatherer, they might have a case.

"

Cough, cough!

Please, Let me go! Didn't you insist on taking it alone?"

"You should have refused! Isn't that your job?"

"The rules only forbid us from granting anybody the upper hand! You should have known that it was a handicap; anybody would! Yet, you still chose to break up your team!"

"Still!"

Any hope Oh Sang-Jin could cling to had vanished. The arrogant Kang Jae-Jun had a worse victim-complex than he had imagined.

Knowing that, what could he do? His brother had ordered him to acquire his talent at any cost.

"That's enough, Jae-Jun," Oh Sang-Jin interrupted.

"You're just gonna accept this without a word? Me being eliminated like this?"

Oh Sang-Jin's head began to throb.

Ping!

Suddenly, Oh Sang-Jin's phone buzzed with a message from Director Jang, informing him that their enforcers had arrived. Through the cloud of his migraine came a simple solution: to pass the problem onto somebody else.

"I need to make a call," Oh Sang-Jin said, stepping away from the furious Kang Jae-Jun.

He dialed Director Jang and let the phone ring for a few until the man answered.

"It's me, Director Jang. We've got a bit of an unexpected situation on our hands—I'll explain later. For now, take Kang Jae-Jun away. Oh, and the team you came with? Keep them on standby," his said, eyes gleaming. "For now... we've got a job to do."