Chapter 131: Hunt? (3)

A hero of the upper ranks.

His name was Aho, surname Lee.

Lee Aho, known as Aho Lee in the Western sphere, looked at Lee Seo-ha.

‘Looks like a parasitic brother.’

Honestly, Lee Aho harbored a different thought. He believed his ranking suffered due to his appearance and popularity. To be frank, his appeal was primarily among men, despite having a likable appearance.

The so-called perfect hero, Han Seok-woo, or the Ice Prince, Yun Han-gyeol, garnered enormous casting offers for everything they did, yet his appeal remained mostly with men.

So he thought to himself.

‘My ranking dropped because of my appearance. Though it’s labeled a promising ranking, it’s not determined by strength alone.’

The YouTuber who decided the promising ranking considered various factors.

He possessed the world’s most exceptional eyes and could see anything.

Those were Celestial’s words.

He might have better vision than his own. He saw what he could not. He sacrificed magic for something called ‘entertainment.’ It was one of Celestial’s chosen paths. He focused on talents related to vision, forsaking all else.

Lee Aho surveyed the scene.

People were gathering on the sports field. Despite the significant loss, Kim Seong-ho smiled and entrusted the task to Lee Seo-ha, Kim Ara, and himself.

-“I want to use this as a promotional video, would that be okay? Ah, I’ll give Seo-ha a separate reward. If you’ve bought a building, you should furnish it. I’ll treat you.”

That was the offer. He promised a 300% bonus of his salary and one accessory from the dungeon as compensation. Lee Aho readily accepted.

Lee Aho snapped out of his reverie and looked ahead. A woman in purple and a man in black were engaged in a friendly conversation.

“Annoying.”

Lee Aho cast a glance at the woman in purple.

Kim Ara.

The sister that was dearly valued by his boss, Kim Seong-ho. She was gazing at that man with adoring eyes, immersed in a one-sided conversation. Kim Ara was asking, and Lee Seo-ha was responding.

“So last time…….”

At first sight, he was almost smitten with her.

So, he attempted to impress her, only to end up embarrassing himself. Lee Aho gazed at his hand. The moment Lee Seo-ha had smiled and shaken it, the sensation seemed to linger.

Lee Aho turned his attention to Lee Seo-ha.

“I don’t understand.”

He was clueless about this boy.

Despite being considered top-tier, being this close should have offered some insight, yet not with this entity.

It was as if he negated everything.

Yet, he was burning, absorbing, possessing the power of origins.

Instinctively, he felt that even with all his resources, he couldn’t grasp the essence of this being. It was likely one of his talents or mysteries.

Lee Aho absentmindedly touched his wrist, lost in thought.

“You’ve made a mistake.”

Lee Seo-ha should not have revealed his power. He wouldn’t be careless now. With a firm resolution, he decided to show that woman an impressive side of himself. This was what Lee Aho pondered as he waited.

Imagining himself married to Kim Ara with three children, Lee Aho’s expression hardened to one he was familiar with.

“Uncle has arrived.”

Kim Seong-ho announced in a low voice.

With an imposing aura, the uncle made his appearance. A middle-aged man resembling Kim Seong-ho, with pomade in his hair and smoking a cigar, emerged. He was dressed in a grey suit with a coat over it.

‘An incredible presence!’

Indeed, a figure worthy of being considered among the top ranks in a few years. Despite having faced a tough battle with the parasite Kalia recently, it meant that he had survived against the Parasite Kalia.

Lee Aho regarded him with respectful eyes.

“Seong-ho, is that the guy?”

“Yes, father is interested in this friend.”

“Really?”

Kim Ho-seop looked at Lee Seo-ha with a lazy gaze, then showed interest.

“…He knows how to conceal himself.”

At that age, they usually wanted to show off, not utilizing their talent for hiding even if they possessed it. But Lee Seo-ha was different. He chose to conceal himself. And despite wearing an oversized hoodie, his well-trained physique was unmistakable.

However, that alone wouldn’t be enough to catch the attention of his brother, known as the Overlord. There had to be something more.

“Then, let’s start the sparring. Everyone, fight without regrets.”

Kim Ho-seop positioned himself between Lee Seo-ha and Lee Aho. Lee Aho focused, aware that his opponent was formidable, but confident due to his long-standing position in the upper ranks.

‘If short strikes are his strength, I’ll counter him with my own short strikes.’

He was confident in short-term combat, he had trained in the guild under the Overlord, aiming to win with a single strike of the Super Overlord Fist.

“Start.”

As the command was given.

Lee Aho lost track of Lee Seo-ha’s movements.

‘What…?’

His mind went blank. Although not solely reliant on sight, his martial arts training emphasized sensation. Yet, his senses had failed him? That could only mean he was…

He felt a hand on his head. Lee Aho, acting on instinct, punched and kicked simultaneously.

However, Lee Seo-ha deflected the arm with one hand and caught the leg.

His attack was effortlessly countered, and black flames coursed along Lee Seo-ha’s hand.

Lee Aho instinctively encased himself in Ki Armor (氣鉀).

A technique seldom used due to its significant energy consumption.

The qi, generated through mental focus, formed an armor, but the black flames consumed and incinerated it.

“Damn it!”

Cursing,

Lee Aho’s head struck the ground.

Crash!

The impact created a spider-web crack on the floor.

Lee Seo-ha dusted off his hands.

As if removing dirt, he turned to Kim Ho-seop.

“I won, right?”

“Ye-Yes.”

Kim Ho-seop could only respond with a stunned expression.

‘Too easy.’

Much weaker than expected. Despite being of the same rank, the level difference was too vast.

‘No, to be precise, it’s not even the same rank.’

The transcendent beings, Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven, had told me.

‘I haven’t fully reached the upper rank because I haven’t completed my mindset yet.’

‘My mindset is so vast and enormous that it will take a long time to complete. The destructive power, once completed, will be beyond imagination.’

In other words, was I halfway into the upper rank now?

Had I not created the Black Flame Martial God, I might have struggled.

Black God had given me a tremendous increase in martial power.

And the special stat, Struggle, was the same.

‘Better than I thought.’

When there was an opponent, and it recognized the fight, the power increased my overall stats.

It didn’t increase conceptual stats, but that’s something.

‘Honestly, that would be too overpowered.’

With points, I might be able to significantly raise special stats and do various things.

“Is it already over?”

“What? Didn’t it just start?”

“Defeated in a single move? No, even if he was careless…”

The crowd was buzzing.

“Okay, okay. Since it seems the match is decided, you both can stand up now. Lee Aho was too careless, and Lee Seo-ha exploited the opponent’s carelessness too much.”

Kim Ho-seop clapped his hands to lighten the atmosphere.

“But Uncle, didn’t Mother come?”

“…Let’s talk about that later.”

Kim Ho-seop stiffened at Kim Ara’s words.

I momentarily tilted my head in confusion. There shouldn’t be an event involving her mother happening right now, right?

“You’re Lee Seo-ha, right?”

“Yes.”

Kim Ho-seop scanned me once.

“Not bad. No, you are a very strange being.”

Kim Ho-seop made a strange expression, as if he had seen something incomprehensible.

“Is that a compliment?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“…Hmm, sorry. I misspoke. If it’s a compliment, then yes, it is. I’ve heard a lot about being a genius, and I’ve seen many types of geniuses.”

Kim Ho-seop looked at me.

“I think I understand why my brother is paying attention to you. You are peculiar. Incomprehensible. And that’s a comment I’ve often heard.”

To ordinary people, a genius was no different from a weirdo. They couldn’t understand a genius.

Was that what he’s trying to say?

“Would you like to come to China if you have thoughts?”

“China?”

It was an unexpected suggestion.

“Yes. I think I’ve seen martial arts similar to yours in China.”

“Similar powers to mine?”

“Black Flame. I’ve seen black-colored flames.”

Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven visibly reacted to Kim Ho-seop’s words.

-Black Flame?

-If there’s someone who handles Black Flame, it’s only that being?

-Go, master. His power must be absorbed at all costs.

‘Why him?’

-His power is troublesome. He possesses the ‘power to burn the concept itself.’

-And he’s composed of the Energy of Defying Heaven, which is somewhat annoying. It didn’t allow me to grow my power much, but if he obtains the legacy of another Heavenly Demon and acquires the Energy of Defying Heaven, he’d be the most troublesome!

Eternal Heaven explained vigorously.

“You seem curious. If you need information about that being, I can support you.”

“A deal?”

“No, not really. This is just my goodwill. I don’t want to be in a hostile relationship with you.”

Kim Ho-seop offered his hand with a friendly smile.

“And I want to help my niece’s business a bit.”

He glanced at Kim Ara while speaking.

China, huh?

I briefly thought about China. China was vast. And it was also connected to the martial world dimension. The legacies of the Heavenly Demon were likely to be found there in abundance.

‘I know about three places.’

I was thinking it was about time to go there. The gatekeepers there were very strong and left a deep impression.

‘Normally, school would be an issue.’

But now, the Korea Hero School was on a break. No problem.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

“Then contact me through Ara anytime. I’ll provide the best service.”

“Thanks for the goodwill. May I go now?”

“Oh, have I kept someone who’s in a hurry?”

“Yes, I need to find guild members.”

“A guild, you say? If it’s about the guild, I’m quite knowledgeable. It’s not one of the top three, but our guild holds significant influence too.”

“I’ll mention it if there’s a problem.”

I then parted ways with Kim Ho-seop.

Next, I called Seo Ga-yeon.

-The time that sparkles generously~

-Hello?

“Yes, hello.”

-Pfft. So, are we dating now?

My attempt at humor seemed to have succeeded, as Seo Ga-yeon laughed in response.

Black Heaven commented while watching me.

-Master, does that kind of thing even work with today’s kids? Stop messing around and get to the point.

-Sometimes. Very occasionally, even Mr. Seo finds it hard to bear such cringy lines… But today, it’s a bit tough.

Feeling disheartened by Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven’s remarks, I spoke to Seo Ga-yeon.

“Are you free today?”

-Yes, if it’s Seo-ha’s words, I have to make time even if there’s none.

“Really? That’s great then. I’ll head over to your place.”

-…Right now?

“Yes. See you soon.”

I hung up and, taking Kim Ara with me, headed to Seo Ga-yeon’s house.