I can definitely feel it.
After defeating the Queen Black Tuna and reaching level 30, Jae-Hyeok’s stats had undergone a significant change. He’d become much stronger.
[Strength: 129], [Stamina: 129], [Agility: 100], [Magic: 129], [Insight: 100]
All his stats had entered the triple digits—including Agility and Insight, which had only increased by 1 point each, but the difference between 99 and 100 stats points was huge. It felt like his vision and senses had doubled, so it took him a whole day to get used to it.
Jae-Hyeok used Two Scythes Block a Cart while drawing his sword, and his outstretched arm suddenly changed its path according to the fixed movement necessary for activating the Skill.
He called this trick normal-attack canceling. It was a method of creating an unpredictable attack by triggering a Skill motion during a normal attack.
It ignored the laws of physics and put a tremendous burden on his body. The first time Jae-Hyeok had attempted it, he’d broken his arm and had to wear a cast. But now, he was fine.
It was due to the growth of his bones and muscles as his level increased. His body was firm and flexible enough to withstand normal-attack canceling around three times in a row.
This is why people increase their levels.
Before awakening, it had been hard for him to feel the growth in his body. Through his consistent training, he had only vaguely felt his muscles becoming stronger after months of hard work. But now that he’d become a player, Jae-Hyeok felt like he was being reborn daily. After every few days, he made the same progress that he usually sensed only after months or years of hard training.
Jae-Hyeok sighed. Just how deep is the sense of despair for retired players?
Most players reached their limit because of an accident, the nature of their Initial Skill, or their talent. In terms of talent and Initial Skill, some people couldn’t reach level 20, while a small number reached level 150 before hitting a wall. But no matter who, when they realized they could no longer feel the pleasure of another level up, the frustration they experienced was surely immense.
My homeroom teacher and Class A’s homeroom teacher are amazing.
Most of the members of the Lion’s Castle faculty were retired players. Few of them could maintain their enthusiasm, but Kim Jin-Myeong and Park Joo-Bong were among the exceptions. They cared and tried their best to teach students.
It’s thanks to people that the world spins around.
Jae-Hyeok thought of the old man at the sashimi restaurant. He cared about his work, always doing the best he could with what he had. Such people formed the core of society, and they should be honored by the nation and protected by the aristocrats.
Jae-Hyeok remained thoughtful as he moved his newly caught black tuna to the icebox.
Just then, a voice broke the quiet. “I didn’t expect you to have fishing as a hobby.”
It was Shinra Kyeong. Given that Jae-Hyeok didn’t sense him, it seemed the level difference was still huge between them.
He asked, “Does this look like fishing?” Jae-Hyeok pointed to the knife marks on the black tuna’s body. From Jae-Hyeok’s body language and tone, it was clear that he wanted him to leave.
Shinra Kyeong stared at Jae-Hyeok and asked bluntly, “Do you hate the Shinra family?’
The Shinra family was the greatest family in South Korea. Its influence was greater than the other two ducal families combined. If the Shinra family had reached out to help the Yaksha—no, if they had said even a single word in favor of the Yaksha—then the Kang family wouldn’t have fallen so quickly. However, the Shinra family had chosen to ignore the Yaksha and the Kang family.
Jae-Hyeok deserved to hate them.
“My family—” Shinra Kyeong began, but Jae-Hyeok interrupted.
“I do resent them, but I don’t hate them. The Shinra family is basically a company. It’s always burdensome for a group with hundreds of thousands of people to interfere recklessly in political matters. And maybe there’s a situation with the seniors of your family that I don’t know yet. Regardless, I can understand the position of your family.”
Family politics wasn’t an area that could be fully grasped by Jae-Hyeok, who was still a student. Therefore, he didn’t recklessly hate the Shinra family.
“Be that as it may, I do hate you, Shinra Kyeong.”
By then, Shinra Kyeong was confident he had grasped Jae-Hyeok’s feelings. Expressionlessly, he said, “...Is it because I insisted it was right for the students to be killed by the Leech King? A small number of people with no skills jeopardized an entire class. They are incompetent, ignorant, and greedy. If we don’t clean them up, they will be a detriment to the future of our country. Did I really do something wrong?”
The wind blew and dark clouds drifted to reveal the moon above, Shinra Kyeong’s silver hair sparkling under its light. He appeared then as a light that repelled the darkness. Jae-Hyeok stood under the shadow of the cliff but was illuminated by the light given off by Shinra Kyeong, who seemed almost sacred.
He certainly appeared worthy of being called a saint, but that only heightened Jae-Hyeok’s alarm. An appearance and status so flawless could perfectly conceal a twisted and rotting inner self. The true nature of a beautiful monster might never be revealed.
Shinra Kyeong said, “It’s unfamiliar for me to see hateful eyes. I’m especially shocked that you, of all people, don’t understand me. Your family has suffered the most from ignorant people. Why don’t you understand?”
Shinra Kyeong stepped closer to Jae-Hyeok, and the reflection from his golden eyes made Jae-Hyeok’s dark eyes look brighter. He continued, “Aristocrats have the right to select the people they protect. No, it is more than a right. It’s a duty. This is a lesson left by none other than your father.”
Aristocrats shouldn’t defend all citizens. If they protected the ignorant, they might one day be stabbed in the back.
Jae-Hyeok murmured, “...I’m glad I met you now. I think... if you were the first person I met when I came here, I would’ve deeply sympathized with you.”
Chae Da-Hee’s dream was inherited from Duke Kang Dae-Guk; she had originally been an ordinary girl, but she’d changed after meeting his father.
Similarly, Baek Do-Jin, Kim Jin-Myeong, Park Joo-Bong, Lee Jin-Seong, Cheon Hye-Ji, and Roh Jun-Yeop and all the members of the Shooting Club—these people had changed after meeting him, and he had also changed after meeting them.
The people who were guaranteed safety and benefited from his father’s merits—why did they fall for a few lies from the government and the media, and end up blaming his father? Was it simply because they were ignorant and evil? No, they, too, must’ve been changed by their circumstances—although those circumstances were built on the lies of the unworthy.
Jae-Hyeok continued, “However, now I can’t sympathize with you. I have decided to be the standard-bearer of righteousness. We are aristocrats. Isn’t it right for us to lead by example?”
Shinra Kyeong’s blank expression split for the first time. The way he looked up seemed as if he was about to scream at the sky.
He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from Jae-Hyeok. “Ja-Ha disrespected the Kang family. Originally, I planned to apologize and compensate you. But I have changed my mind. If you want reparations, you can communicate directly with my family.” Shinra Kyeong’s voice was cold. Previously, he had seemed to be trying to infuse warmth in his gaze when dealing with Jae-Hyeok, but no longer.
Jae-Hyeok felt a chill run down his spine.
“One day, you will realize how foolish you were,” Shinra Kyeong declared before leaving.
Jae-Hyeok kept silent. He didn’t make any rebuttal to Shinra Kyeong’s departing back.
He thought of his father lying in bed. To borrow Shinra Kyeong’s radical words, It was a life of failure. His father, who was a model of aristocracy, had lost everything. If he only emulated his father, he wouldn’t be able to reach Shinra Kyeong, who had learned from Kang Dae-Guk and established new ideas.
I have to prove it myself.
His father hadn’t failed; he’d succeeded in planting the seeds. Looking to the moon, Jae-Hyeok’s eyes sparkled.
Lessons, training, duel evaluations, and repeat—the students of Lion’s Castle were overworked every day, but no one suffered as much as the students of First Year Class B.
“Kang Jae-Hyeeeeeeeok!! I will definitely kill you today!”
“Are you going to say the same thing a hundred years from now, too?”
Of course, Kang Jae-Hyeok was the busiest.
He faithfully went to classes and completed commissions.
“Here is this week’s commission list.”
“I’ll accept this one.”
He practiced swordsmanship with Iyarugt and also tried to gain information from the lion statue.
-How is the ceremonial drill training going?
-Keep this in mind. Want to see the ceremony carried out by a thousand knights as if they were one body.
“I said, don’t worry. By the way, I’ve got a few questions I’d like to ask you... ”
He also slowly warmed up to A Conscientious Merchant while purchasing various necessities from the Community, using the points he had earned from his achievements.
-Wow, I really found a rare treasure!You will definitely be interested in this!Please meet me just once!
However, despite Jae-Hyeok’s packed schedule, he didn’t feel tired at all. He got an average of six hours of sleep a night. His new sleep schedule, which was longer than it had ever been, meant he was always in his best condition.
So this is how people normally feel, Jae-Hyeok thought. He had never thought he would experience the comfort of waking up with clear vision and no headaches.
At this time, Jae-Hyeok was enjoying a humane life for the first time in eight years.
Meanwhile, there was a big uproar in Ocean Shipping, a subsidiary of the Ocean Guild.
“What? What is this bullshit?”
The franchise sashimi business encountered a setback in the middle stage of its development.
The few directly managed stores—which were spaced every six kilometers apart with the intention of dominating the commercial area in the western part of Incheon—had been empty for several days now.
“Manager Park, you bastard. Why is there no business after you spent so much money?”