F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 38

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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38

“Hmm~”

Eyes waiting for prey while sitting in the lobby, sipping a cup of instant coffee.

Who would become the conversation partner for the bored Association President today?

Perhaps the saying that mornings come early when you get old was true, as the Association President sat in the lobby basking in the sunlight an hour earlier than the average arrival time of Association staff.

‘The weather is nice today too.’

It was about time for someone to pass by.

While he sat alone in the lobby, savoring the coffee aroma.

‘A face I haven’t seen at this hour?’

An unfamiliar woman in her twenties.

At first glance, she seemed like a fresh graduate who hadn’t been at the Association for long.

‘Why does she look so lifeless from the morning?’

Instead of coming out with the bright face of energetic youth, she walked in with drooping shoulders as if she were about to die.

He couldn’t just ignore such a young person showing such a dark expression at an age when she should be shining brighter than anyone.

He was about to call out to her to cheer her up, but there was no need to do so.

From the moment she opened the door and entered, she made eye contact with him and slowly walked over.

“Association President…? I’m Yu Yeona, an employee from the Hunter Management Department.”

“Oh? Yes, nice to meet you.”

For an employee to approach and speak to him as soon as she saw him.

When he showed a rather surprised expression at this uncommon occurrence, Yeona continued.

“Actually, there’s something work-related I need to discuss with you today…”

The story she slowly began to unfold.

With each detail that followed, the Association President listened with an increasingly interested expression.

“So you want me to personally step in and fix his habits?”

“H-habits might be too strong a word… I just hope you could teach him that the world is vast.”

“Hmm…”

The Association President briefly pondered.

Anyone watching might have thought he looked troubled, but he had already made up his mind halfway through listening.

“Perfect timing, I was just getting bored.”

Unlike the quiet and timid young people these days, here was an aggressive rookie Hunter.

While he personally liked that type, flying high without knowing the limits of the sky might lead to falling after being burned by the sun someday.

Teaching such a Hunter was always something he welcomed with open arms.

“Alright, prepare according to my schedule.”

Korean Hunter Association President Gu Hyeonjong accepted the new employee’s request for help.

*

The very next day after making the phone call.

While heading to the Association, he wondered who would be facing him.

‘Will it be the staff member I fought last time? Since I barely won then, if I show a different side this time, they’ll be convinced, right?’

Who would he end up fighting?

At the Association he arrived at with slight curiosity, a person beyond his imagination was waiting for him.

“So you’re Hunter Jung Juhyeok!”

“…Hello.”

Someone he had seen many times somewhere during his student days.

In fact, if you graduated from Hunter Academy, this was a person whose face you would have seen several times at important events like entrance ceremonies.

“You’re the Hunter Association President, aren’t you?”

“Why are you making a face like you’ve seen someone you shouldn’t have?”

The Association President chuckled.

He had thought at most an A-rank Hunter would come.

He never dreamed that the Association President himself would come down for just one person like him.

“Is there a problem? You confidently said to bring anyone, so I personally dragged my busy body here.”

“…”

For such a busy person to come just to fix one Hunter’s attitude.

‘Even though I’m somewhat famous now, it’s not to this extent.’

Among hunters, Juhyeok had already become a major topic of conversation.

Thanks to appearing in the news as a late-blooming prospect, he had gained some name recognition.

‘But enough for the Association President to step forward personally?’

Juhyeok looked at the staff member quietly observing the situation beside him.

The junior staff who had sparred with him before couldn’t meet his eyes, while the male staff member just smiled faintly as if nothing was wrong.

‘They must really hate the sight of me.’

From their perspective, he would certainly look foolish.

A guy who barely beat a B-rank Hunter daring to try entering A-rank.

From the Management Department’s standpoint, it would certainly look like reckless bravado.

‘Still, isn’t this going a bit too far?’

He knew very well what kind of person the Association President was.

The first person in South Korea to receive an Irregular classification, a man judged to possess military power rivaling S-rank.

Though he might have aged considerably and his skills may have declined, humans with B-rank mana levels don’t experience aging curves that easily.

Could he really defeat him with his current abilities?

Since it wasn’t strength that could be measured by mana like his own, it was difficult to say for certain.

“What’s wrong? You’re not thinking of backing out now, are you?”

A provocative smile.

Though he was somewhat surprised that the Association President had come down to spar with him personally, he had no intention of backing out as the man suggested.

“I’ll learn from you.”

“Heh, good attitude.”

Bowing his head, he accepted the sparring match.

Juhyeok had absolutely no intention of running away.

Whether his opponent was an A-rank Hunter or the Association President, it was a wall he would have to overcome someday.

If his skill wasn’t enough to gain recognition even from the Association President, then he shouldn’t aim for A-rank.

‘But since it’s a sparring match, I’m definitely thinking of winning.’

Victory beyond recognition.

Though Juhyeok had politely accepted the sparring match saying he would learn, he arrogantly had no thought of losing whatsoever.

“Then let’s go down.”

“Yes, understood.”

They slowly descended to the sparring hall.

They each took practice wooden swords and stood in their positions.

“I’ll give you the first move. Let me see your skill.”

“Understood.”

Was he being careless?

He observed his stance full of openings as he yielded the first attack.

A wooden sword held with only one hand.

An unbalanced body.

His appearance was so problematic it was hard to decide where to attack, but he absolutely wouldn’t fall for it.

‘Let’s take this step by step.’

He stepped forward.

Juhyeok breathed in and entered a state of immersion.

To the point where he couldn’t even sense how much time was passing.

He focused completely on his sword and became numb to everything else.

“Ooh…”

Not a single word was spoken.

Just the two of them in the sparring hall with only breathing sounds.

Juhyeok rushed forward to strike him down and thrust out.

Clang―!

“Hup.”

The Association President easily blocked it despite him attacking along the most likely route.

Was it because he was an Irregular like himself?

He bit his lips tightly at reflexes that didn’t seem like those of a B-rank.

The Association President who blocked the first exchange shows a leisurely smile in contrast.

“Well, you’re better than I thought~”

Clang―!

Even when attacking mid-conversation, he quickly raises his sword to deflect it.

“Oh my, attacking while someone’s talking, how rude.”

“….”

“Can’t you even hear what I’m saying?”

A mind that never wavers despite his chattering voice.

After exchanging several moves, one thought came to mind.

‘I can’t win in a short battle.’

As expected from an opponent with decades of experience accumulated.

His defense is too skilled to finish with a decisive blow.

Then the remaining method is a battle of stamina.

‘Let’s slowly wear him down.’

No matter how much he’s rated S-class or above as an irregular, an old man is still an old man.

With his current stamina that wouldn’t lose to anyone, he was confident he could fight longer than the Association President.

He changes his stance with the intention of drawing out a long battle.

Then the Association President seemed to notice and made a thoughtful sound.

“Hmm~ Planning to go for a long battle, that’s a good judgment.”

He gives a grade like a teacher evaluating a student.

Though no answer came to his words, he continued speaking alone quietly.

“Your fundamentals are perfect beyond belief for your age and your attitude is excellent too. Honestly, from what I’ve seen so far, I think you could easily reach A-class, but….”

He glances up at the staff members above.

He thought it might be fine to stop the sparring right here and grant him the qualification to enter A-class.

“But wouldn’t it be disappointing to end the sparring so boringly?”

A sparring match with a promising talent after such a long time.

Judgment, fundamentals, skill.

Seeing him excel in everything except mana capacity, the old man’s heart begins to burn with excitement.

“….”

The body that hadn’t moved easily except for light attacks begins to move.

The Association President finally takes a proper stance.

He finally grips his sword with both hands.

‘He noticed I was going for a long battle.’

An opponent who knows well enough who would be at a disadvantage if the sparring continues for long.

Then what path would he choose?

‘He’s going for a big one.’

One strike.

The Association President is probably gathering everything right now as he slowly draws in his breath.

‘If I rush in thinking this is good, who knows what will happen.’

A situation where the opponent’s attack routine isn’t completely read.

If he rashly charges at an opponent taking stance in such a stage, he might end up getting completely overwhelmed instead.

“Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see.”

Repeating the same words with his mouth while examining each part of his body one by one.

An atmosphere as if something could happen at any moment.

Eyes rolling here and there.

Just when perfect silence was completed.

“Haaak!”

A resounding battle cry opposite to his leisurely tone.

Like a beast’s roar, it makes every hair stand on end.

Then one beat after the battle cry… no, one and a half beats?

At an ambiguous timing that was hard to judge precisely, his foot landed.

He walks forward with a dancing, swaying motion.

The speed quickened, then slowed.

Footwork that changed irregularly with a tempo difficult to match.

Soon, just as he stepped within three paces.

A tingling sensation was felt from the ground.

‘Now.’

Tang―!

Tung―!

Tung―!

Consecutive attacks that approached and connected in an instant.

Attacks that freely crossed between on-beat and off-beat.

Tung―!

Tung―!

An unpredictable pattern of hitting the same spot, then quickly hitting it again.

Jung Juhyeok perfectly deflected every attack yet couldn’t relax his tension.

‘This style existed before, but this is on a different level.’

Off-beat attacks he had once faced against the Doll.

However, such a bizarre pattern was truly a first.

As he steadily blocked every attack one by one, he realized something.

‘He has no intention of stopping.’

He thought after continuing consecutive attacks for a while, if they were all blocked, it would end at a certain point.

But his attacks flowed gracefully and showed absolutely no sign of stopping.

‘I need to stop this.’

He couldn’t be confident he would continue blocking every attack like this.

Yet he couldn’t see any opening in his attacking opponent either.

‘…Is there no choice.’

Continuing like this would eventually lead to defeat.

For victory, some new decisive action was needed.

Jung Juhyeok didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

Tang―!

Tung―!

He slightly deflected upward against the final attack.

A very small opening was created.

An opening where attacking would immediately invite counterattack.

Jung Juhyeok lunged toward that opening, blocking the possible attack routes with his arm.

In other words, a trading flesh for bone strategy.

The moment he tried to sacrifice his arm to claim victory in this match.

The optimal route he chose, knowing they would exchange attacks.

“That’s enough.”

Was blocked by the Association President’s hand as he abandoned his counterattack.

“If we went with your plan, neither of us would come out unscathed.”

The Association President declared the end of the sparring rather than meeting counterattack with counterattack.

He held the arm he had caught, gazed into his eyes for a moment, then let it down.

“Excellent. Even your final decisiveness far exceeds passing marks.”

If they had exchanged that final attack, who would have won?

An answer even the Association President couldn’t easily give.

That’s why he hastily concluded the sparring.

A promising talent powerful enough to make him abandon the sparring midway.

He truly doubted whether this person really possessed F-rank mana levels.

‘Living long in this world, you see all sorts of things.’

To stop the sparring because he was worried about getting hurt while fighting an F-rank.

It was a story that wouldn’t be strange if anyone who heard it scoffed.

“I’ll make sure to put in a good word about your Gate work.”

“…Thank you.”

Realistically speaking, a mana amount that would be difficult to strengthen further.

Jung Juhyeok, who was strong enough to rival him without even achieving reawakening.

He was already monster-like enough, but what would happen if he achieved reawakening?

‘To think such a guy would appear in our country too… Things are going to get interesting.’

The Association President chuckled as he left the sparring hall.

One more source of entertainment had been added to his boring daily life.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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