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Chapter 232

Oh Hye-na’s weapon was a greatsword. A greatsword focused on hitting with heavy strikes rather than fast ones, and her cold-trait made the target slow and dull, and thus vulnerable to said heavy attacks. Slowing down the other person to your speed was a simple but effective idea that worked very well against opponents that wouldn’t be able to resist. Of course, there was no way for her to slow Kang Shin-hyuk down.

“Haak, haak…”

“You’ve gotten better; your swings are heavier.”

After finishing his battle with her, Kang Shin-hyuk sincerely praised her. Her ability to understand and cope with the gap between her and her opponent was outstanding. Even when she held something like a rapier and not a greatsword, her footwork and agile movements were able to compensate for her unfamiliarity with the weapon. At the same time, the threatening speed and power of the greatsword striking at a decisive moment reminded him of her father, Oh Joo-young. Of course, it was Kang Shin-hyuk who had struck him down, so he couldn’t say that.

“I couldn’t deflect it,but…!”

“But it was fast enough.”

Oh Hye-na, who was sitting down and gasping for breath, spoke up resentfully. There was no way she could surpass Kang Shin-hyuk, but she had grown considerably compared to their previous battle. Eleanor was admiring them the entire time.

“Amazing. I hope Karen notices and learns from this.”

“She will once she’sbeaten.”

“I’ll try it later. After losing to a freshman, wouldn’t she have to think about it?”

Eleanor decided that Oh Hye-na would be able to take the lead even if she were to enter the Wyvern Knights right now. As expected, she had the abilities worthy of the daughter of the number one world ranker.

“S-rank…” Oh Hye-na mumbled quietly, and Kang Shin-hyuk tilted his head at her.

“What S-rank?”

“My sword. It is an ancient relic from the gate my father entered himself…on my twelfth birthday, my father gave it to me as agift.”

Thinking about it, she had been wearing a blue greatsword on her back the first time he saw her and the day she came to confront him, but she didn’t bring it this time. It seemed to be a precious sword; she couldn’t swing any time she wanted. But why did she suddenly bring it up now?

“It’s an emotion-filledstory.”

“By theway.”

However, instead of what he had been anticipating, she tapped the greatsword he had made and lent her.

“But why is the sword you said you made in a few days so much better than that sword?!”

“Oh, hey.”

Apparently, those feelings had been overwhelming her during battle. The direction of the topic was something that he couldn’t even imagine.

“No, what else could I say other than I make good weapons?”

“It’s so good, this greatsword! It feels like it was made by someone who knows me better than anyone else; I feelbad…!”

“I have no idea what you mean now.”

Oh Hye-na’s complicated emotions were now impossible for him to interpret. At this, the administrator sent an admiration-filled message.

-I can understand. This is because what has a casual value to the member has the most precious value to that fox. In other words, that fox is angrily trying to deny herself and that she is attracted to you!

It seemed like a great leap in logic had been made.

‘A little more detail, please.’

-The reason is that everything about you is so unconventional. Not only are you strong, but you have excellent production skills and connections with many foxes, as well as her best friend. A strong sense of hate is the same as a strong sense of interest, so she is forced to fall for your unique charm, and at the same time, feels both love and hate for you… I must kill her now.

‘You must’ve been reading a very interesting novel administrator.’

For some reason, there was a bulletin board for novel serialization in the Hero Universe. Now he knew why some Hero Universe members published original novels in their free time. They probably received bonus points from theadministrator!

“You said that you got that old sword from your father? Then, of course, a sword made with advanced metallurgy is stronger.”

“Natural artifacts are originally stronger the older they are!”

Artifact meant ‘old relic’ by itself, but it became a term used to refer to objects with strange abilities excavated from the gates. When artificial artifact creation came about, it instead became a term to refer to any objects that had those abilities. However, artifacts created artificially could not surpass natural artifacts excavated from the gate, or so it was generally thought. As a result, it was also thought that those natural artifacts only grew stronger as they aged.

“But how the hell? Have you acquired all the skills? Why do you have so much at your age? How thehell?”

“Ah, Hye-na, there’s no need to suffer needlessly from cognitive dissonance.”

Baek In-ha clicked his tongue as he watched Oh Hye-na groaning, falling into that sense of inferiority she couldn’t escape from. However, Lee Na-hee was the one to speak up with a contemplativeexpression.

“At that age, everything is considered painful. Perhaps tomorrow, she’ll be distressed about why the soup has corn in it.”

“Uh… soup,corn…?”

“I’m going to put it in, so eat quietly.”

It wasn’t possible to figure out who was the most annoying, but at that, Oh Hye-na suddenly raised her head, her temper flaring.

“Once more.”

“Yes, anytime.” As soon as she stood up, she rushed over the ground. Neither her breathing nor her greatsword shook as she ran. Kang Shin-hyuk raised his sword and prepared to block it, but his body suddenly stopped moving. Ice was stuck to his knees and both of his arms, restricting his movement.

‘Ah.’

He was taken by surprise. He had been preparing for it with his spiritual power, but he didn’t know that it would come at a speed that surpassed his senses. He could feel a strong sense of pressure bearing down above him. If that greatsword fell as it was, it would be quite painful.

‘She’s maintaining the magic power in the greatsword. The elites practice to deal with their abilities since their youth, I suppose…well?’

It was at that moment when Kang Shin-hyuk couldn’t resist that a scorpion soared up from the sands. This dungeon had no safe areas from scorpions, so one had to be on the lookout for attacks even while training. The scorpion jumped off the floor, aiming at Kang Shin-hyuk as he was about to receive Oh Hye-na’sattack.

‘This guy, maybe.’

Kang Shin-hyuk rolled his eyes and thought about Oh Hye-na. It didn’t make sense for him not to feel this coming. His sensations had become dull, somehow. Perhaps this situation was due to her ability.

‘It’s not just the ability to make ice.’

If so, Oh Hye-na was a considerable opponent. In order to restrain his movements and land a blow, she had hidden her abilities and waited for the best timing.

‘Is that even a real ability?’

-In the first place, frustration is how humans grow.

‘There was a time when I thought that.’

Kang Shin-hyuk laughed. At that moment, a red flame akin to the sun rose around his entire body. In that instant, he melted away the ice and burned away the scorpion about to attack him. The flame burned violently just for an instant before being immediately extinguished, and Kang Shin-hyuk lightly flicked Oh Hye-na’sforehead.

“If I’m surprised that much, I have to use it.”

“What, what was that?! Anotherartifact?”

Oh Hye-na sat down and covered her forehead, glaring at him all the while. Kang Shin-hyuk decided to answer honestly.

“No, it’s askill.”

“Nonsense. The ability to deal with the power of the attributes so freely is already a trait.”

“I showed off other attributes earlier.”

Kang Shin-hyuk made a sphere of wind in his hand to show off. He then mixed fire into it, creating a fireball. The wind strengthened the fire, so Kang Shin-hyuk, who could handle both together, would be able to make a name for himself as a high-ranker even if he focused on only those two abilities.

“Fire, wind… In-ha oppa’s ability…”

“No, it’s not the same as his.”

He threw it behind himself and burned away the scorpions appearing there.

“But it was great. Haven’t your skills grown?”

“Ugh, ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

At the same time, she was learning about Kang Shin-hyuk’s new abilities, Oh Hye-na began to cry and ran to Baek In-ha after suffering another complete defeat. Today, he had succeeded in making her cry.

“Wow, she’scrying.”

“He’s like the embodiment of the Ice Princess.”

“He made hercry.”

“No!”

As Lee Na-hee and Eleanor chatted quietly, Oh Hye-na screamed with a tearful face as she buried herself into Baek’s chest. Baek was patting her head in a touching display of paternal love.

“Shinyuk was the rightanswer.”

“What, because she’s crying?”

“She’s grown tremendously just today. Bringing her to you was the right answer… though I think the shock was a bit much.”

“It’s like a lion stalking a baby.”

It seemed that Baek In-ha was seriously worried about Oh Hye-na’s future, but he would realize it gradually.

That Oh Hye-na was no baby, but a lion cub herself.

***

The table was full the next morning. They were trying to eat before the battle, but Lee Na-hee had diligently gotten up early and began to cook. She was surprisingly talented in cooking and knowing that she wanted to earn points, Kang Shin-hyuk felt compelled to praise her.

“You’re good at cooking, senior.”

“Of course. I’m so good that even grandpa admits it. By the way.”

Lee Na-hee took out her notebook and approached him.

“How aboutliver?’

“Alright? Oh, isn’t it a little bit boring?”

“What about ingredients? What do you like?”

Kang Shin-hyuk responded softly, feeling like he was in front of a beginner chef who had just sparked their desire for cooking.

“I eat everything, but meat, especially…”

“Prefer meat,okay…”

“I particularly likelamb.”

“Mutton, yes. There are some special recipes for that, so please look forward toit.”

“Yes… what?”

Kang Shin-hyuk suddenly felt something strange after off-handedly answering her questions. Didn’t it sound like she was preparing for him to sit at a table prepared by her continuously?

“Mutton and liver… lunch is good, then…”

However, Lee Na-hee jotted down notes with a serious expression as she returned to where she had been before.

-Shall I kill it now,member?

‘I’m scared,stop.’

Glancing to the side, he noticed Eleanor was also staring at Lee Na-hee with a terrifying expression. That was because Eleanor, the English princess, wasn’t able to cook.

“There really is corn in it…”

“Just eat.”

“Yes.”

After that, the training continued smoothly. Eleanor trained against the grains of sand while flying through the air with a little help from Kang Shin-hyuk, and Baek could now move freely against the flowing sand of the desert. Oh Hye-na herself had adapted smoothly to the training environment. Meanwhile, Kang Shin-hyuk and Lee Na-hee focused on interpreting the secrets hidden in the gate.

“Everyone, eatplenty!”

“Shinyuk, I think you did well to bring Na-heenoona.”

“Baek In-ha, you won’t get any food.”

“Oh, noona! Noona, please!”

“My oppa is likethis…”

Then, after the sandstorm disappeared at night, they ate dinner, and Kang Shin-hyuk trained Oh Hye-na. She was behind everyone except for Lee Na-hee, but her skills were growing rapidly through continuous battle. Eleanor, her hidden skills revealed, was above Baek’s level, and Kang Shin-hyuk was stronger than her. But even Baek was growing at a fairly fast pace as he practiced.

‘They’re not kidding these days.’

-A 500,000HP bonus from an administrator who was impressed by your third-person speech!

‘No, I didn’t mean myself.’

-You are also growing these days, member. Your synchronization rate is rising rapidly.

A few days passed, and the last day Eleanor made the reservation arrived.

The moment had come to hunt the golems.