The Regressed Martial God Monopolizes Everything - Chapter 38

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 38. Exchange Match (3)
[Temporary access credentials confirmed.]
[Yeon Cheonghwa, Branch Director of the World Hunter Association, Republic of Korea.]
Yeon Cheonghwa entered the interior of Elysium Dome and stood there dazed.
Unlike the guard’s ignorance, it was Ilseong who had granted Yeon Cheonghwa temporary access authority to avoid future complications.
Yet despite such tremendous force in the explosion, not a single drop of blood stained the interior—Yeon Cheonghwa’s intervention rendered meaningless.
Yeon Cheonghwa’s eyes only blinked repeatedly.
‘…Why is he unharmed?’
On the surface, Seon Byeonghui appeared to have no visible injuries.
It should have been fortunate, but to Yeon Cheonghwa it felt anything but fortunate.
“Ugh…”
The sight of Seon Byeonghui draped across Jeong Hyeonsu’s shoulders was surely not what he would have wanted.
“What… what happened?”
“There was an explosion, so why…”
As the smoke from the magical detonation cleared and those inside glimpsed the aftermath, confusion etched itself across every face.
That was when Jeong Hyeonsu dropped Seon Byeonghui unceremoniously to the ground.
“Director!”
“Status?”
“Pulse and respiration both stable. No external injuries, and magical reserves appear uncompromised!”
The assessment from Ilseong’s medical personnel only deepened the mystery.
A single person should have been crushed like an insect in an explosion of such magnitude—yet not one casualty among them?
Which could only mean…
“Perfect restraint…”
At Ji Minjeong’s awestruck whisper, every eye in the gallery snapped toward Jeong Hyeonsu.
Though not Ilseong’s heir, Seon Byeonghui remained a direct blood relative in the succession race—the magical heir of that legendary Hunter and World Hunter Association Director, Seon Woohyeon.
Even with Seon Byeonghui having given his all, he had been suppressed with absurd ease.
In a demonstration match—not a Deathmatch—he had flawlessly nullified every technique his opponent had deliberately displayed.
“How is that… Bronze?”
“This has to be rigged.”
“Was Garum hiding him all along?”
“Even so, this is Seon Byeonghui, who was about to challenge Platinum…”
Ilseong was no fool; they had surely calculated a perfect victory in the Exchange Match before sending him.
Especially hosting it at Ilseong Tower—their own symbol—they must have intended to make Seon Byeonghui the star.
“The winner: Jeong Hyeonsu.”
Jeong Hyeonsu alone stood towering—though his recent fame had skyrocketed, he was thought destined to fail against the overwhelming gap of experience, to taste the world’s bitterness.
Park Yeongsu’s arm had been severed by Jeong Hyeonsu, and Jeong Hyeonsu had been subdued.
No applause came.
Clap. Clap!
“Honestly, he’s always so loud, isn’t he?”
Jeong Hyeonya, the one who broke the silence, wore an expression of distinct displeasure.
“So desperate for attention—how did he manage to hold back until now?”
Jeong Hyeonya had concluded that Jeong Hyeonsu had been deceiving the world.
“…Isn’t that right? You see it that way too, don’t you?”
At Jeong Hyeonya’s question, Ji Minjeong withdrew her gaze from Jeong Hyeonsu.
“Hmm? What?”
“That brother of mine who was born to show off. I can’t figure out how he held back all this time.”
“Hyeonya.”
“Yes?”
“Hyeonsu… he never held back.”
“What?”
“He just genuinely couldn’t do it until recently.”
Ji Minjeong spoke with certainty.
There was no way it could be otherwise.
Being the same age and both products of Decade Guild, the two had received their education at the same institutions since childhood.
Their elementary and middle school years overlapped, and naturally their paths had crossed in the Guild as well—so Ji Minjeong had seen far more of Jeong Hyeonsu than of Jeong Hyeonya, who kept her distance.
Especially during that time when Jeong Hyeonsu had dogged Ji Minjeong’s heels desperately, trying to capture her attention.
“That was just… acting.”
“It couldn’t have been acting.”
The pathetic Jeong Hyeonsu of those days occupied a realm that mere performance could never touch.
“…It’s the same even now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s just changed. Like someone back from the dead.”
“Can that even happen……?”
Ji Minjeong answered while watching Jeong Hyeonsu.
“I don’t know…….”
Jeong Hyeonsu himself, the subject of their gaze, looked around before speaking.
“Is there another candidate willing to exchange matches with me?”
The direct members of the massive guild, recalling the terrifying prowess that had severed Park Yeongsu’s arm, looked away.
“I shall step forward!”
Then the owner of that booming voice descended into the Elysium Dome.
Boom!
Perhaps the explosion had disabled the Elysium Dome’s mechanisms,
as a massive figure with broad, splayed shoulders cast a shadow over Jeong Hyeonsu amid the violent tremor of the concrete floor.
“First son of Gunkon! Baek Janggoon. Pleasure to meet you.”
Baek Janggoon, whose height exceeded two meters, resembled the divine generals spoken of only in ancient legends.
Jeong Hyeonsu accepted the handshake offered to him.
“Hmm…….”
Baek Janggoon’s expression, as their hands clasped, grew oddly contemplative.
“Strange. Fewer calluses than I’d expect.”
“I’m ashamed to say it’s so.”
Baek Janggoon let out a wry chuckle.
“But your body is impossibly solid. It’s like you’ve ground through the fundamentals relentlessly.”
“…….”
“Ah, sorry! I’m the type who speaks whatever crosses my mind.”
Baek Janggoon kept tilting his head in wonder, studying Jeong Hyeonsu with genuine fascination.
The calluses on one’s palms were a measure of how much training had been undertaken.
Though Jeong Hyeonsu had trained relentlessly, the passage of years—something that cannot be overcome in a short span—was undeniably present.
One such marker was diligence itself, and the discrepancy between possessing such strength without it created an oddity.
“I’m still lacking, having only recently come to my senses.”
“…Still lacking?”
Had he started even a little sooner, the one sprawled out there might have been Seon Woohyeon instead of Seon Byeonghui.
“Heh…….”
This made Baek Janggoon’s desire to test himself against Jeong Hyeonsu burn all the brighter.
Jeong Hyeonsu too was regarding Baek Janggoon with considerable favor.
‘The Divine General of Gunkon.’
True to his first impression, Baek Janggoon—who would later earn the epithet Divine General—was one of the rare embodiments of Noblesse Oblige.
In the age when the world’s destruction loomed near, he was the great man who stood alone against the armies of the Three Calamities, buying time so the weak could flee.
“Shall we have a bout?”
At Jeong Hyeonsu’s words, Baek Janggoon’s face brightened.
“…Really? Is that okay?”
“Of course it is!”
It was Jeong Hyeonya who broke in at that moment.
“Yesterday Park Yeongsu, today Seon Byeonghui. Now you want to fight this guy too?”
“…Not a guy though…….”
Baek Janggoon’s shoulders sagged dejectedly.
“Then let’s do it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow won’t end it… will it?”
“It doesn’t have to be an official exchange match for us to test ourselves against each other.”
Baek Janggoon’s face brightened once more.
“You really do know something! I like you already. Hahahaha! A rare breed these days! Want to be friends with me?”
“I’m selective about my companions.”
Baek Janggoon’s expression shifted sharply again. He was truly a man whose heart lay transparent for all to see.
Was this not the rare breed of man one saw in the modern age?
“Let’s exchange blows tomorrow and see where it goes.”
The second day of the exchange match, having produced yet another spectacle after the first, was drawing to a close.
* * *
Kang Hyeonwoo was studying Jeong Hyeonsu with curiosity.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“Gotten into me? What do you mean?”
“You’re completely different from the first day. I thought you’d sever Seon Byeonghui’s leg.”
At Kang Hyeonwoo’s words, dripping with irony, Jeong Hyeonsu let out a soft laugh.
“You think I’m insane enough to cut off Ilseong’s direct line and get swarmed? I have to devour Garum first—I’m not about to destroy what I’ll be eating.”
“So you’ve thought things through that far?”
He spoke as though casually slicing off Park Yeongsu’s arm and striking a calculating pose—like an uncontrolled madman.
Kang Hyeonwoo felt a flicker of disappointment.
Of course, he believed he’d hidden that disappointment thoroughly, but Jeong Hyeonsu saw it plain in his eyes.
‘He’s hoping that while he’s at it, he’ll cripple Ilseong’s direct line too, bring Garum down completely, isn’t he?’
And naturally, all while securing what he wants for himself.
“If I wait long enough, this world will be mine. You don’t see that?”
Jeong Hyeonsu knew exactly how to stoke that hunger.
“I’ll admit—you have overwhelming compatibility. That Hyeoncheon Gwiwon-gong technique never ceases to impress me.”
He credited the power not to Jeong Hyeonsu’s skill, but to the technique itself—that was Kang Hyeonwoo’s grudging assessment.
“It’s serviceable, I suppose.”
A careless remark that landed in Kang Hyeonwoo like a barb meant to wound.
What was the difference between a fool who didn’t know what blessing he’d been born into and a greedy dog you needled just to watch him react?
“…Yes. It’s a good technique.”
“Let’s drop this topic. So—what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
Jeong Hyeonsu’s eyebrow twisted slightly.
“What do you mean? Why do you think I opened my heart to my uncle? Because I’m competent?”
…….
“The connection to climb higher. I believed you were at least capable of that. Understood?”
“You’re talking about the Hunter Association?”
Jeong Hyeonsu sank deeper into the sofa as he spoke.
“At least you have the sense to grasp the basics. Drop the matter.”
…….
“There’s no faster way to build power than holding a position in the Association.”
Jeong Hyeonsu’s words were undeniably sound.
“But a Bronze-rank hunter can never hold significant office in the Association.”
“So you’ll arrange that solution yourself—why should I lose sleep over details? This is exactly why the Decade Guild treats you as a nonentity.”
Kang Hyeonwoo swallowed the rage that rose in his throat.
‘As long as Jeong Cheol leads the guild, Garum won’t fall. But….’
If such a greedy man were to become guild master?
No matter how formidable a single man’s strength, leading a faction as its head was an entirely different proposition.
Friction would arise. Conflicts would surface.
‘He’s endured for over thirty years now.’
What was a little more patience?
“The Hunter Knight position looks promising. Take down a few wanted criminals, grab the spotlight, make a name for yourself—simple enough?”
The Knights under the Hunter Association were elite, each and every one.
Though the pay was meager, there was no hardship in living expenses; rather, the strict demands placed on maintaining dignity left them perpetually understaffed.
Their primary duty was preventing guild conflicts, capturing and hunting down wanted criminals.
Naturally, only the elite of the elite could manage such work.
“I’ll develop my skills on my own time. You just make the arrangements. Now get out.”
The way he issued orders like a servant-keeper brought a strange elation to Kang Hyeonwoo.
The feeling of hairline fractures spreading through the otherwise solid foundation of Garum’s future?
Even if Jeong Hyeonya became guild master, Jeong Hyeonsu would surely be the wedge that split it open.
As Kang Hyeonwoo turned to leave, Jeong Hyeonsu watched him go with cold, indifferent eyes—as though he’d never been otherwise.
‘Traitor. Thanks to you, Garum will undergo a magical revolution. I’ll thank you in advance.’
They were two people sharing the same pillow but dreaming different dreams.
To be continued in the next episode ▶
The Regressed Martial God Who Takes All
Author
Cheon Ya
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries [email protected]
Publication date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260515012
※ This digital book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and copying are prohibited.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.
※ Pentagram awaits your precious manuscript.

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