DSWG-C14

Chapter 14

 

At that moment, Juwon’s gaze, fixed on the middle of the sparring arena, met Ihyun’s through the second-floor glass window.

Instead of greeting him with a nod, Ihyun lightly raised the cup of Juwon’s vanilla latte in his hand and pointed his chin toward Lee Changhun.

Earn your coffee. Start.

Receiving his superior’s unspoken command, genuine killing intent filled Juwon’s eyes.

He tilted his head toward Lee Changhun, rolling his neck until his joints cracked.

“Mr. Lee Changhun. I hear you’ve been getting a little too full of yourself lately. This is our first spar, right? Better to take your beating early, so come at me.”

“L-Lee Juwon… sir. Did I perhaps do something wrong…?”

“Ah, enough. If you came into a sparring arena, we should communicate with our fists, right?”

Juwon suddenly retracted the imposing mana wave he had been radiating, as though it had been washed away in an instant. He lightly clenched and unclenched his massive fist before grinning.

“Oh, right. Let’s not use abilities today. If I start summoning swords, I might chop through all the pillars and bring the whole building down, so I’ll show you some special consideration. Let’s settle this purely with our bodies.”

No abilities allowed.

The outrageous declaration echoed through the sparring arena, and the training building immediately began to buzz.

The Espers who had gradually gathered to watch the bizarre sparring challenge started whispering among themselves.

“Hey, what’s going on? Why did that mastiff suddenly show up at the training building?”

“That’s Lee Changhun from Search Team One. Did that bastard seriously get on Juwon’s bad side? What the hell did he do to make that lazy monster come here personally to beat him up?”

“But he’s not using his ability? Does that mean he won’t summon his swords?”

Lee Changhun’s eyes shook violently as he listened to the spectators.

…He’s not going to use his swords?

His opponent was a metal-type Esper—a monster capable of unleashing thousands of diamond-hard swords behind his back and slaughtering an entire battlefield.

When Juwon spread his terrifying sword formation across the sky, his silhouette resembled a thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara, each hand wielding a weapon as he rained destruction upon his enemies.

If that monster deployed his sword formation as usual, Changhun would be turned into minced meat without even having the chance to throw a single flame.

But if this was purely hand-to-hand combat, without abilities or weapons, things were different.

Juwon is a ranged damage dealer who usually fights from a fixed position. And with that ridiculous build, there’s no way he can keep up with my speed in close combat. Even if he’s S-rank, if we’re fighting barehanded without weapons, I can at least protect my pride.

The Espers around them were puzzled by Juwon’s declaration, but Changhun had already finished calculating his odds.

He, too, was an A-rank Esper who had been through the brutal grind of countless Gates.

His gaze sharpened as he assumed an offensive stance, clearly intending to accept the challenge without holding back.

“…I’m honored by your consideration, Mr. Lee Juwon. I didn’t earn my A-rank title by playing some children’s game, so I won’t hold back!”

From behind the glass window of the second-floor observation room, Ihyun watched that laughable display of bravado with a faint chuckle.

Cold Americano steadily climbed up the straw.

What an idiot. He has no idea why they call Juwon a mastiff.

The physical durability of a metal-type Esper was beyond imagination.

Even without summoning his swords, Juwon’s body—his strength compressed into his fists and bones—was itself a blunt weapon as hard as diamond.

He wasn’t actually fighting without his ability.

He was merely pretending not to use it as a feint.

And Changhun had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

Beep—!

The sharp electronic signal announcing the beginning of the match rang through the arena.

At the same instant, Changhun’s fist shot toward Juwon’s jaw.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

Changhun’s fist slammed directly into Juwon’s thick forearm guard.

The impact felt as though he had punched an iron wall rather than human flesh, and Changhun cried out in pain.

Juwon, meanwhile, remained completely unmoved.

He stared at Changhun, who had retreated while shaking his hand, with an expression of utter disbelief.

Juwon’s lips slowly parted.

“What the hell are you doing?”

The cold, mocking words had barely left his mouth when the massive Juwon launched himself forward at terrifying speed.

Thud!

Changhun blocked the incoming fist with both arms, but the sheer force sent him skidding backward.

“Ghk…!”

Changhun tumbled awkwardly across the floor. He desperately planted a hand on the ground and tried to get back up, only for his numb arms to give out and send him crashing down again.

“Hey. You’ve only taken one hit. Where’d all that whining come from? At this rate, it’ll look like I’m bullying you.”

His merciless voice was followed by a shadow falling over Changhun once again.

Juwon grabbed Changhun by the collar with one hand.

Under the S-rank Esper’s overwhelming strength, Changhun’s body dangled helplessly in the air.

Thud! Bang!

“Ghk! Ugh—Juwon…!”

“Hey. Shut that mouth before your teeth fall out.”

One merciless punch after another slammed into Changhun’s face.

Every time Juwon’s fist connected, Changhun’s head snapped violently to the side, sending droplets of blood and broken teeth flying through the air.

His face was quickly drenched in blood.

Changhun desperately flailed with blurred eyes, as though begging for mercy, but there wasn’t a shred of sympathy in the mastiff’s eyes.

Thud!

As though placing a period at the end of the sentence, Juwon drove a heavy uppercut straight into Changhun’s jaw.

His grip on Changhun’s collar released, and Changhun’s body flew through the air like a rag doll before crashing spectacularly onto the sparring arena floor.

“Hah. What a boring bastard.”

“……Ugh, cough! Ughhhh—!”

A miserable groan escaped Changhun the moment he hit the floor.

Unable to withstand the impact of having his face beaten to a pulp and his brain rattled inside his skull, Changhun collapsed face-first and vomited blood-streaked stomach contents onto the floor.

Juwon recoiled in disgust.

“What the hell? Hey! He’s puking!”

“Holy shit… Call a recovery-type Esper! Or someone get him to the medical wing!”

“That guy’s made of paper. How the hell did someone like that become the captain of Search Team One?”

Laughter and jeers from the watching Espers filled the arena.

And even Ihyun, watching the disgusting spectacle from behind the observation-room window, instinctively frowned.

I just ate.

Seeing his former hunting dog thoroughly beat the bastard into the ground was deeply satisfying.

But watching a third-rate villain make his exit by vomiting all over the training floor was doing serious damage to Ihyun’s aesthetic sensibilities.

Still, considering the price Lee Changhun had paid for driving Baek Ihyun to suicide, this was only the beginning.

Ihyun sent a message to Juwon as he walked toward him.

[Hey. Later, spread it around to the Espers that Changhun got rejected by Baek Ihyun and deliberately started spreading nasty rumors out of spite.]

Juwon pulled out his phone from his pocket and grinned when he saw Ihyun.

Then he turned around and jerked his chin toward Changhun.

Loud enough for the surrounding Espers to hear, he shouted,

“Hey, Lee Changhun! I heard you got rejected by Guide Baek Ihyun, got bitter about it, and started spreading all those nasty rumors! Grow up, you pathetic bastard!”

Not now, you idiot.

Juwon walked through the murmuring crowd toward him, flashing his white teeth with an almost childishly innocent expression.

At that innocent-looking face, Ihyun had to rub his throbbing temple.

He had forgotten one important fact.

With Juwon, instructions had to be painfully specific.

Soon, the observation-room door opened, and Juwon squeezed his enormous frame through it.

Ihyun pushed one of the takeout cups sitting on the table toward him.

“Drink.”

“Hyung! You remembered my coffee preferences…!”

After taking a sip, Juwon looked at Ihyun with an expression overflowing with emotion.

“Hyung… You really are the only one for me.”

With glistening eyes, Juwon looked up at the ceiling and swallowed back tears.

Then he happily sucked down his sweet vanilla latte through the straw.

It was hard to believe this was the same man who had just beaten another person into a bloody mess.

As Juwon dropped heavily into the seat beside him and quenched his thirst, another commotion erupted down in the sparring arena.

“Medical team coming through! Everyone, move!”

People carrying a stretcher hurried into the arena through the crowd of Espers.

Amid the chaos of cleaning up the wreck that was Lee Changhun, a familiar silhouette caught Ihyun’s eye.

“……”

His gaze met Jeong Yura’s across the room.

She looked back and forth between Ihyun and Juwon sitting beside him before faintly furrowing her brows.

Her expression was filled with disbelief, irritation, and confusion.

Then she coldly hardened her face and turned away.

“What happened between Jeong Yura and Baek Ihyun?”

Baek Ihyun wasn’t the sort of person who would normally provoke someone’s hostility.

Puzzled, Ihyun turned to Juwon.

“No, nothing like that happened. It’s just…”

Juwon took a long sip of his vanilla latte before continuing.

“Jeong Yura is extremely obsessed with the position of Head Guide in the Guide Division.”

“So?”

“She’s probably worried she’ll lose it now that the crybaby who used to bawl all the time suddenly awakened to S-rank. She worked her ass off to get that position. And since Baek Ihyun is the Director’s son, she seems to think the higher-ups are going to push him ahead of her.”

People who worked the hardest to earn their position tend to be the most sensitive about favoritism.

The moment he opened the front door, Ihyun didn’t bother hiding the rumbling of his stomach.

“I’m home!”

His nanny, who had been anxiously waiting in case he returned after being bullied at the Ability Bureau again, came rushing out in surprise.

The moment she saw Baek Ihyun walking in with such energy, relief finally spread across her face as she welcomed him home.