I Became a Transcendent-Level Genius Trainer - Chapter 164

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

Transcendent Genius Trainer 164

Gangnam.
A private room on the 5th floor of the One-step Building.

A man with snow-white hair was sipping tea there.
Slurp.
The White Lion, Baek Do-gyun.
Beside him sat another man who had competed fiercely for the top position for years.

“Do Kang-myeong has time to sit around and drink tea. Is the Trainer School struggling these days?”
“No, it’s the opposite. Extremely busy. The trainer industry is experiencing a golden age right now.”

A legend in South Korea’s trainer community.
Do Kang-myeong was one of those names that invariably came up whenever people spoke of trainers in the country.
He was juggling an enormous schedule.
He’d been busy before, but things had become even more demanding lately.

“The demand for trainers has skyrocketed because of the Hero’s training, hasn’t it?”

In recent times, many more people had been seeking out the Trainer School.
The return of the Hero, Baek Hyeon-jin.
One trainer stood at the center of that comeback.

“That trainer accomplished something remarkable. Something no one in South Korea had ever managed before. I never expected such a boom to arise.”

As a result, a Trainer Boom was now in full swing.
Everyone wanted to become a trainer and flocked to trainer schools, while scouts actively hunted for emerging trainer talent.
One brilliant genius changed everything.
Everyone had now fully grasped this truth.

When Do Kang-myeong took his seat, Baek Do-gyun smiled faintly and looked at him.
At his enigmatic expression, Baek Do-gyun couldn’t help but laugh.

“I never thought I’d see the day when you’d be the one asking to meet. In fact, lately many people have been seeking me out.”

Baek Do-gyun chuckled warmly.
He’d recently met with Ryu Jeong-hwan, the Trainer Association chairman.
Ryu had told him about Kang Yu-jun, and it seemed he’d taken the advice well.
The Association was backing Kang Yu-jun wholeheartedly.

“So you wanted to see me about Trainer Kang, is that it?”

Do Kang-myeong nodded at Baek Do-gyun’s words.

“The Hero’s training. What exactly is that?”

This was what Do Kang-myeong most wanted to know.
The training of the Hero, Baek Hyeon-jin.
He distinctly recalled examining Baek Hyeon-jin in the past and pronouncing him untreatable.

The man had been in a terrible state.
Every mana circuit in his body had been burned out, and he had no properly functioning mana pathways.
He was a living miracle, and his condition required constant medical treatment, not training.
Yet that Baek Hyeon-jin had been trained.
Not by the stellar existing S-rank Trainers, nor by any renowned overseas trainers.
He had been trained by a mere babe in the woods—someone who’d only been a trainer for two months.
Yujun, who had shaken the nation with Dragon training, had now driven the final nail home with the Hero’s training.

No one could now raise any objection to Yujun being S-rank.
How could anyone object when he’d trained a Hero no one else could?
Slurp.
Baek Do-gyun sipped his tea with ease.
His eyes were already smiling.

“He’s making his comeback.”

This was the second one.
The first had been Seo Yu-ri, a promising awakener who’d been deemed hopeless and switched to being a trainer, and shockingly, the second was the Hero, Baek Hyeon-jin himself.
The gap between the first returnee and the second returnee was vast.
Baek Do-gyun smirked as he watched Do Kang-myeong’s stunned expression.

“I know because I have ears. I have a TV at home. A decent phone too. A smart tablet as well. And above all, didn’t I have a personal exchange with Trainer Kang Yu-jun? There was even an interview with me. You saw my interview, didn’t you?”

Do Kang-myeong frowned.

“Yeah, I saw it.”

Do Kang-myeong’s stock was falling daily.
Undeniably the nation’s finest trainer.
Yet from a certain point onward, Do Kang-myeong had ceased taking on challenging trainings entirely.

He’d devoted himself to running the Trainer School to revitalize the industry, teaching only other trainers as the trainers’ trainer.
Because of this, there was widespread opinion that Do Kang-myeong was coasting on past glory and legend.

While his past achievements still earned him the title of the nation’s best, criticism was mounting that he’d produced no substantial training results in the last five years.
Do Kang-myeong didn’t mind though.
This was a path he’d chosen himself.

Yet he couldn’t help but resent the public opinion that Kang Yu-jun might have superior skills, and Baek Do-gyun’s rising value.
Especially since Baek Do-gyun had merely predicted that Kang Yu-jun would become a great trainer.

“You just got lucky with your prediction, didn’t you? I could’ve done such an interview too.”
“Then why didn’t you? If you had, you’d be the one basking in this spotlight, not me. Why didn’t you?”
“…….”

Grind.
Do Kang-myeong’s teeth clenched.
Meanwhile, Baek Do-gyun found himself grinning often these days.
Naturally enough.

“Thanks to that, I’m being invited to all sorts of YouTube channels and TV programs. Quite gratifying, really.”

Baek Do-gyun was receiving attention for something other than training for the first time—thanks to his interview.
Of course, broadly speaking, he was still being recognized as a trainer.
As someone who could read and assess people, he’d been the first among S-rank Trainers to acknowledge Kang Yu-jun as a raw gem.
Kang Yu-jun had certainly been rising before, but it was the first time a prominent figure like Baek Do-gyun had mentioned him.
Because of this, he’d even called Kang Yu-jun.
So he said he was thoroughly enjoying himself these days.

“And that’s not all. Training requests are coming in again.”

Top-tier guilds, especially those struggling with training, wanted to formally invite Baek Do-gyun.
In fact, one guild in particular had even offered him a two-year contract with a substantial signing bonus and performance fees.
Watching Baek Do-gyun enjoy himself so thoroughly, Do Kang-myeong sighed and opened his mouth.

“Let’s get to business. I’d like to entrust a request to Trainer Kang.”
“A request?”
“Yes. The client is…….”

At the words that came from Do Kang-myeong’s mouth, Baek Do-gyun’s eyes widened.

* * *

A new patriarch.
At those words, every blacksmith’s body went rigid.

“I realize it may be uncomfortable for an outsider like me to say such things. But looking at all your faces, it seems you’ve all considered this before.”

The blacksmiths had indeed considered such a thing, just as Yujun said.
They’d thought about removing Patriarch Kim Hwa-cheon and installing a new patriarch.
That they could only survive that way.

Yet Kang Yu-jun was an outsider.
Having an outsider who’d come to provide training suddenly suggest installing a new patriarch was highly suspect.
It was then that Kim Jung-hun spoke.

“It’s not a simple matter.”

Yujun and other outsiders might not understand.
Why they continued to follow such a patriarch.
The blacksmiths here were the foundation and core of the Kim family.
If they rose up, surely replacing the patriarch was feasible, was it not?
Yet why did they endure such treatment?
If these men went on strike right now, the Kim family would cease to function properly.
The answer to that was simple.

“Our children are being held hostage. To those children…….”

A yoke far stronger than mere disadvantage had been placed around the children.
Kim Jung-hun bit his lip before continuing with difficulty.

“A Binding Artifact has been placed on us. The stated purpose is to prevent leakage of the Kim family’s exclusive knowledge and to strengthen family unity, but…….”

The same thing had been placed on all of the Geumgang Kim Family’s blacksmiths.

“A Binding Artifact.”

Kim Jung-hun said this and pointed to the area near his heart.

“Originally it was here…… What?”

He then touched the area near his heart in confusion.

“That thing?”

Yujun smirked.

“I removed it during the Mana Circuit Reconstruction earlier.”
“……!”

Kim Jung-hun was deeply shocked.

“But… how did you… That’s not something that just disappears. If you try to forcibly dismantle it, it explodes and takes your life…….”

He was too flustered to speak properly.
Yujun nodded as if he understood well enough.

“It’s not a simple artifact at all. It’s closer to actual magic.”

When Yujun saw through it so precisely, all the blacksmiths were astonished.

“How on earth did you…….”

It wasn’t something that could be removed so easily.
If it had been, they wouldn’t be enduring such helplessness.
Yet for Yujun, it was a simple matter.

‘The mechanism itself is simple, you see.’

This Binding Artifact near the heart ran on mana as fuel.

When the mana circuit collapsed entirely, mana reached zero, so naturally it didn’t activate, and attempting to remove it caused no explosion.

‘Normally there’s no situation where mana itself collapses like this.’

This was a removal method only Yujun could employ.

“Well then, things have become easier for you all.”

Yujun clapped his hands and refocused their attention on himself.

“All you need to do is make a decision.”
“……Could we hear more of the plan? If we remove the patriarch, who becomes the new patriarch?”
“That’s not for me to decide. That’s for you to decide. My role is simply to train you all.”

He then added casually.

“Though I can offer a recommendation. Gyu-cheol—that young man could develop the Geumgang Kim Family without resorting to such harsh measures.”
“Gyu-cheol?”

The Kim family had elders and executives who’d devoted themselves to the family for many years.
Was he suggesting Gyu-cheol as patriarch, passing over all of them?
Of course, the elders and executives currently sided with the patriarch.
But even among them were those who viewed this development with displeasure.
If that were the case, it would be more appropriate to choose one of them.

“I’ve heard that legitimacy is the most important thing for a patriarch.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then Gyu-cheol has legitimacy more certain than anyone. He awakened the power of the Founding Patriarch.”

Yujun said this while pointing to the furnace they were using.

“This place is called Geumgang Hall, yes? I heard it took its name from the Geumgang Forge, the power of the Founding Patriarch. Gyu-cheol has inherited that very power.”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”

Everyone was astounded.
That Gyu-cheol, the expelled one, had inherited the power of the Founding Patriarch!

“Surely…….”
“The patriarch must have known……!”

Of course, the patriarch wouldn’t have known.
At that time, Gyu-cheol had merely awakened, unable to properly use even a single ability—he was the shame of the Kim family.
Yujun smiled inwardly at their reaction.

‘I did force it to fit, though.’

Looking at it this way, the story fit perfectly.

“That must be it. Gyu-cheol has legitimacy.”

The blacksmiths’ expressions grew grave.
If this were true, it would be something that could shake the Kim family to its core.

“Please…… give us time to consider.”

Yujun readily nodded.
He’d promised Kim Sang-yu three days anyway.

“Yes, take all the time you need. I’m simply here to help you all.”

Yujun said this with sparkling eyes.
Snap.

“Then I’ll train the next blacksmith.”

He then used Deep Scan.

“Take all the time you need. Very slowly. Think it through carefully.”

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