The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 104

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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 104
“Ugh!”
Eun-sung hurled himself backward in desperation.
Blood streamed down.
Crimson rivulets poured from the pierced shoulder.
‘That was close.’
Eun-sung felt his blood run cold as he bit down hard on his lower lip.
What people commonly overlooked was that the human body harbored far more vital points than one might assume.
Deep within the shoulder ran the axillary artery—a major vessel whose rupture spelled certain doom.
It was impossible to apply a tourniquet there; death from hemorrhage was nearly inevitable.
Losing limbs would have been preferable.
A tourniquet could at least buy time to survive.
Those sudden deaths from falls or traffic accidents involving shoulder injuries—this was precisely how they occurred.
A fractured clavicle or scapular fragment tearing through the axillary artery meant losing consciousness within seconds, followed swiftly by death.
In that sense, Baek Yu-jin had struck with surgical precision at a vital point.
Had Eun-sung failed to react, the artery would have been punctured clean through.
“I’m coming again.”
Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!
The rapier descended relentlessly, targeting vital points with each thrust.
“…!”
Eun-sung threw himself aside in panic.
‘…The difference in skill is vast.’
Eun-sung could not deny that Baek Yu-jin was the overwhelming superior in this duel.
His opponent was a true swordmaster who had wielded a blade for nearly two decades.
Moreover, she was someone who had confidently claimed the gold medal at the Olympics, where the world’s finest athletes gathered.
A master who had reached the pinnacle of fencing—a branch of swordplay—and remained in her prime.
Exceptional talent.
Discipline honed through relentless effort.
And layered atop that, experience accumulated through countless competitions.
Baek Yu-jin possessed all of these in abundance.
Swish!
This time, Baek Yu-jin’s blade slashed across Eun-sung’s right thigh.
“Tch.”
In the brief moment Eun-sung faltered.
Whoosh whoosh! Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Baek Yu-jin’s rapier descended like a torrential downpour.
A speed the eye could scarcely follow.
Throat, chest, abdomen, thigh.
A relentless barrage of lethal thrusts targeting only the vital points.
Clang! Clang clang! Clang clang!
I swung my axe and barely deflected her blade, but it wasn’t enough.
My expression grew increasingly rigid, and my limbs felt unsteady.
Baek Yu-jin’s sword was not just fast—it was impossibly fast.
No, it wasn’t merely about speed.
Every strike was perfectly precise, without the slightest margin for error.
One moment of carelessness, and my life would be forfeit.
Whoooosh!
The rapier slashed across my abdomen.
“Ugh!”
I stumbled backward.
Blood welled up from the wound across my tightly clenched abdomen.
A critical moment.
In this qualification match where pure human skill was being tested—not Hunter abilities—I was not the only formidable opponent.
* * *
“His opponent is terrible. This will be difficult.”
Lim Lieutenant Colonel observed the duel between Eun-sung and Baek Yu-jin from a distance and made that assessment.
It wasn’t an underestimation of Eun-sung, but rather an extremely cold and objective evaluation.
“Of all people, his opponent had to be Baek Yu-jin.”
Information about Baek Yu-jin surfaced in Lim Lieutenant Colonel’s mind.
She had won her gold medal in France, the birthplace of fencing, and had been a prodigious swordmaster who maintained the world’s number-one ranking even before becoming a Hunter.
Had she not been caught up in the gate disaster that occurred just before the closing ceremony, she would have remained a legend in the fencing world.
In truth, she was still a legendary figure even now.
“It will be over soon.”
Lim Lieutenant Colonel anticipated Eun-sung’s defeat and didn’t regard it as particularly significant.
A qualification match was, after all, merely a martial competition.
In terms of combat sports, it was nothing more than sparring.
To properly evaluate a Hunter required comprehensive assessment—their unique abilities, their reactions to various situations, and more.
Excelling in one-on-one duels did not necessarily make one an exceptional Hunter.
“A 23-win streak is impressive enough, so there’s no need to make much of a loss. Putting up a reasonable fight before withdrawing would be….”
“Do you really think so?”
Wi Tae-woong interjected smoothly.
“Ah, Director Wi. It’s been a while.”
“Did the Minister send you? To rush to the Arena and shoo away the bothersome flies?”
“….”
“You’ve had it rough. Ha.”
Wi Tae-woong patted Lim Lieutenant Colonel’s shoulder twice.
And beside Wi Tae-woong, Lee Hyun watched the duel between Eun-sung and Baek Yu-jin with a twisted smile.
He seemed quite displeased that Eun-sung had reached the same record that he himself had set.
“By the way.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Our brilliant junior seems to have a different opinion, doesn’t he?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that….”
Lim Lieutenant Colonel furrowed his brow.
“That’s just your interpretation.”
“…!”
A shudder ran through Lim Lieutenant Colonel’s body before he could stop it.
His breath caught in his throat.
His body reacted instinctively to the killing intent—a pressure so suffocating that his will meant nothing against it.
“What? You think it’s not worth taking seriously? Hah! Your eyes must be completely blind.”
“Why are you suddenly saying such things….”
In a flash—
Wi Tae-woong seized Lim Lieutenant Colonel’s jaw and head in an iron grip.
The Defense Strategy Department hunters nearby couldn’t even react—his speed was that devastating.
“Lim Lieutenant Colonel!”
“What the hell are you doing!”
The Defense Strategy Department hunters, enraged, drew their spirit blades in unison.
“It’s fine. Don’t interfere.”
Lim Lieutenant Colonel held them back.
Despite being completely overpowered, his voice remained calm and composed.
He knew that no matter how reckless Wi Tae-woong was, he wouldn’t openly murder Minister An’s aide.
At least not now.
“Look.”
Wi Tae-woong forced Lim Lieutenant Colonel’s head toward where Eun-sung stood.
“Does it look to you like Cha Eun-sung has given up?”
“That, that’s… Ugh.”
“Look carefully.”
“Kgh…”
Even through the pain, Lim Lieutenant Colonel stared intently at Eun-sung.
‘That’s… that’s…’
Lim Lieutenant Colonel was startled beyond measure.
Remarkably, Eun-sung’s face bore no resemblance to that of someone facing defeat.
His eyes burned with even greater clarity, and his firmly set jaw radiated unwavering resolve.
Though he bore countless minor wounds, he refused to allow any fatal blow to land.
“Now then, shall we have your answer?”
Wi Tae-woong whispered into Lim Lieutenant Colonel’s ear.
“With those clouded eyes of yours, does he still look like he’s given up? Hmm?”
“He hasn’t given up… that much is certain. Ugh.”
“Exactly. It’d be a waste if a young man like you were already going blind.”
Wi Tae-woong shoved Lim Lieutenant Colonel away roughly.
“He’s a predator. A truly lethal hunter. The quiet ones are always the most dangerous. He’s not being hunted. He’s hunting.”
“Ugh.”
“Watch this.”
Wi Tae-woong turned to look at Lee Hyun.
“That’s how a beast should be. Looking fierce on the surface? That’s worthless. A chihuahua might bark and snap, but a dog is still a dog.”
“….”
“He’s waiting for the moment to tear out his opponent’s throat. Betting his own life on it.”
“Even so, it seems like he won’t be able to win. The skill gap is too severe.”
Lee Hyun countered with a somewhat defiant tone.
“Which is exactly why you’re still a child.”
“Huh…?”
“Victory and defeat—sometimes they matter, sometimes they don’t.”
A cold smile played at Wi Tae-woong’s lips.
As if Lee Hyun was pitiful.
“What matters is how you face the situation. The outcome comes later. As you live, you’ll inevitably find yourself in circumstances beyond your control, and sometimes you have no choice but to accept them.”
“….”
Lee Hyun clenched his teeth in silence.
“Sigh. What can I do? The more I see, the more I like it. Heh!”
Wi Tae-woong casually dismissed Lee Hyun and burned with possessive desire toward Eun-sung in the distance.
In this very moment.
His eyes saw only Eun-sung.
* * *
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The prodigy swordmaster’s assault was sharp and precise.
‘The skill gap is too severe.’
Eun-sung keenly felt the disparity between himself and Baek Yu-jin.
In fact, he couldn’t even touch the hem of her clothing.
‘I can’t even get close.’
True to her background as a fencing athlete, Baek Yu-jin’s sense of distance was breathtaking.
She exploited the rapier’s long reach at 200% capacity.
She maintained the exact distance where she could safely thrust and cut, never yielding an inch beyond that.
So Eun-sung, wielding his hand axe, was nothing but her plaything.
But there was no backing down.
The Dragon Lord’s Orb.
To obtain the item containing the secrets of regression and the Dragon Lord, I had to achieve the championship and complete the Royal Road.
So the conclusion Eun-sung reached was….
‘I need to risk something. If I can’t win this time, there’s no championship, no nothing. I’ll worry about what comes after later.’
Having made his decision, Eun-sung fixed his gaze on the tip of Baek Yu-jin’s blade.
Whoosh!
‘Now.’
Thud!
Baek Yu-jin’s blade pierced through Eun-sung’s upper left chest.
Just below the collarbone.
On the outer side.
Between shoulder and chest.
A position that narrowly escaped a fatal wound.
“Ugh―!”
Eun-sung pressed forward.
The blade slid out through his back with a wet sound.
He didn’t even flinch at it.
Eun-sung focused only on what had to be done, not on the pain.
Clang―!
Eun-sung’s axe struck the rapier’s side.
Crack!
The blade shattered.
A rapier was a weapon with an exceptionally thin blade.
It was hardly surprising that it would break under a strong lateral impact.
“…!”
Baek Yu-jin gasped and stumbled backward in shock.
All that remained was the hilt and a broken blade about twenty centimeters long.
It was no longer a rapier.
A dagger.
Its reach was now far shorter than Eun-sung’s axe.
Which meant her greatest advantage had been completely stripped away.
And the price for that was far from negligible.
“…!”
Eun-sung surged forward and began swinging his axe at Baek Yu-jin.
The broken blade still embedded in his upper chest meant nothing to him.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Only attack, attack, and more attack.
Having seized the advantage, Eun-sung was utterly relentless.
Like a predator charging down its prey.
“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa―!”
A thunderous roar erupted from the crowd as if they’d been waiting for this very moment, shaking the entire Arena.
“Wow! That bastard’s completely insane!”
“Damn tough! Hell yeah!”
“This lunatic! I like him! Hahahaha!”
The spectators understood.
Just how dangerous a man Eun-sung was.
Pain?
Or perhaps injury?
To the spectators, Eun-sung appeared utterly indifferent to such concerns.
Flesh severed, bone shattered.
Surrendering flesh, carving through bone.
A berserker capable of sacrificing even his own body as bait to claim his enemy’s life, if necessity demanded it.
That was Cha Eun-sung.

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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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