LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 68
Chapter 68
“It truly feels different.”
Jaehyuk, who reached level 30 after defeating the queen, realized how significantly stronger he had become.
The change in his stats marked a significant milestone.
Strength: 129
Stamina: 129
Agility: 100
Mana: 129
Insight: 100
Even his non-primary stats like agility and insight reached triple digits.
Though his stats only increased by 1, the impact was enormous.
His dynamic vision and senses had nearly doubled, and it took him a whole day to adjust.
Skaaang!
While Jaehyuk was demonstrating his sword technique, he deployed a skill.
〈Two Sickles Stopping the Cart〉
His arm, which had been extending smoothly, abruptly changed course, forcing the skill motion.
This technique, known as ‘move-cancel’, involved executing a skill motion during a normal attack to create an irregular assault.
Ignoring the laws of physics, it imposed incredible strain on the body.
When Jaehyuk first attempted move-cancel, his arm immediately broke, necessitating a cast.
But now…
“Good.”
He was fine.
His bones and muscles had grown stronger along with his level increase.
His body had become solid and flexible enough to endure using move-cancel three times in a row.
“This is why leveling up is so satisfying.”
Before his awakening, he found it hard to notice the growth of his body.
Through consistent training, he’d feel the slight strengthening of his muscles only when the seasons changed.
But after becoming a player through awakening…
Jaehyuk felt like he was reborn every day.
The sense of achievement he once reached after months or even years of effort was now experienced every few days.
“How much despair must retired players feel?”
Most players hit their limitations due to accidents or the nature of their first skill or talent.
Some couldn’t even reach level 20, while a few reached level 150 only to think, “Ah, this is my limit.”
The realization that they could no longer feel the thrill of leveling up must have brought immense despair.
“Our homeroom professor and the Class A homeroom professor are truly remarkable.”
Most of the faculty at the Lion’s Castle were retired players.
Few maintained their passion.
Kim Jinmyung and Park Jubong, who went out of their way to better teach their students, were exceptional cases.
“Thanks to such people, the world keeps turning.”
Jaehyuk thought of an elderly man at a seafood restaurant.
Those who dedicate themselves to fulfilling what they must do or can do.
Thus, these people formed the citizens of society.
The nation should honor them, and the nobility must protect them.
While reaffirming his beliefs, Jaehyuk relocated the newly caught Dark Abyss Tuna into an icebox.
“I did not realize you had an interest in fishing.”
A noble voice echoed.
It was Silla Kyung.
Given that Jaehyuk didn’t even sense his presence, the level difference still seemed significant.
“Does this look like fishing to you?”
Jaehyuk pointed at the deep cut between the eyebrows of a Dark Abyss Tuna, openly displaying his displeasure.
Silla Kyung, who was staring intently at Jaehyuk, asked directly.
“Do you hold a grudge against the Silla family?”
Silla Kyung belonged to the most prestigious family in South Korea.
Its influence was more enormous than the combined might of the other two dukedoms.
If the Silla family had extended a hand to Yaksha or even just voiced support, the Kang family wouldn’t have crumbled so quickly.
Yet, the Silla family thoroughly ignored both Yaksha and the Kang family.
It was understandable for Jaehyuk to hold resentment.
“I towards the family…”
Before Silla Kyung could explain further, Jaehyuk interrupted.
“I do harbor resentment, but it’s not to the extent of hatred.”
“The Silla family is practically akin to a corporation. For a conglomerate with tens of thousands of people, interference in political matters would be a huge burden. There might be circumstances of the elders unknown to me. For the sake of argument, I can understand the Silla family’s position.”
Politics was not an area a mere student like Jaehyuk should judge lightly.
Thus, he refrained from recklessly condemning the Silla family.
However.
“What I detest is you, Silla Kyung.”
Jaehyuk was confident he understood the boy named Silla Kyung well enough.
“Is it because I stated the students should have succumbed to the Leech King?”
Silla Kyung’s expression remained unchanged.
“A minority without capability jeopardized an entire class. If one fails to rectify such negligent, ignorant, and greedy individuals, it will harm the nation’s future… Was I truly wrong?”
Whoosh.
Winds swept away the clouds.
Moonlight emerged, illuminating Silla Kyung’s silver and golden eyes, emanating a radiant glow.
Light that repelled darkness.
Even Jaehyuk, standing in the shadow of a cliff, was brightly illuminated by Silla Kyung’s presence, which seemed almost sacred.
He was befitting of being called a saint.
Jaehyuk felt fear.
The appearance and status that naturally concealed a twisted, rotten core.
The true nature of this monster might never be revealed….
“The disdain in your gaze is unfamiliar. It’s shocking that you, of all people, fail to understand me. Your family, after all, suffered the most from ignorant individuals. Yet, why do you not understand me?”
Step.
Silla Kyung moved closer to Jaehyuk.
His eyes, shining like gold, involuntarily lit up Jaehyuk’s pitch-black eyes.
“A noble has the right to discern which people to protect. It’s an obligation beyond a mere right, a lesson left by none other than your father.”
Nobles must not protect all citizens indiscriminately.
Protecting the ignorant might one day result in a knife in the back from them.
“… I’m glad I met you now.”
Jaehyuk realized.
“If you were the first person I met upon entering this place, I would have empathized deeply with you.”
Dahui Chae’s dream was inherited from the great nation’s duke.
She, a once-ordinary girl, changed after meeting her father.
Baek Dojin, Kim Jinmyung, Park Jubong, Lee Jinsung, Chun Hyeji, Do Baesoo, Noh Junyeob, and the members of the shooting club…
There were people who changed after meeting me.
I, too, am changing thanks to meeting them.
Yes, people change.
The citizens who benefited and had their safety assured thanks to my father’s contributions.
Why did they end up criticizing my father after falling for a few false words from the government and media?
Was it just because they were simply ignorant and evil?
They, too, were changed by circumstances and their environment.
Due to the misguided environment created by undeserving individuals.
“But as I am now, I cannot empathize with you. I’ve decided to become the right kind of standard-bearer. Being a noble, shouldn’t we set an example first?”
“… Why.”
For the first time, Silla Kyung’s expression broke.
Looking skyward in a lament, he seemed to cry out silently.
Closing his eyes tightly, he turned his back on Jaehyuk.
“Zaha was disrespectful to the Kang family. I had planned to apologize and compensate, but I changed my mind. If you seek reparations, you must contact our family directly.”
Silla Kyung’s voice was cold.
Yet, when speaking with Jaehyuk, it seemed he was trying to maintain some warmth.
He was no longer addressing him formally.
Silla Kyung’s change in tone sent shivers down Jaehyuk’s spine.
“You will one day realize how foolish you’ve been.”
As if he no longer wanted anything to do with Jaehyuk.
With those final words, Silla Kyung departed.
“……”
Jaehyuk remained silent.
He didn’t have any retort for the disappearing boy’s back.
He thought of his father, who lay in bed.
If one borrowed Silla Kyung’s harsh words, a “failed” life.
His father, an exemplary noble, had indeed lost everything.
Even if I, who try to follow in his footsteps, attempt to speak boldly against Silla Kyung, who established a new philosophy from his father’s failures, it wouldn’t reach him.
“I have no choice but to prove it myself.”
My father did not fail.
Because he successfully planted the seed that is me.
The remnants of moonlight left behind by Silla Kyung continued to shine in Jaehyuk’s pitch-black eyes.
***
The monotonous cycle of classes, training, and duel evaluations continued.
Students at the Lion’s Castle felt exhausted daily.
“Kang Jaehyuuk! Today, I’m definitely going to kill you!!”
“Looking at how you’re going, you’ll probably say the same thing in 100 years.”
“Ugh.”
First-year Class B students, in particular, experienced significant hardship.
Of course, the busiest of them all was Kang Jaehyuk himself.
“Here’s this week’s commission list.”
“I’ll take this one.”
Not only did he dutifully handle club commissions in addition to his classes,
-How is your martial form training going?
“Don’t worry.”
-Remember, I wish to see the martial techniques performed by a thousand knights united as one.
“Do-Don’t worry….”
But he also devoted himself to do martial form’s swordsmanship training, seeking to earn the affection of the lion statue to gather information.
-I’ve truly found an exquisite treasure! Really, you’d do well to be interested? Please just meet me this once!
Moreover, he gradually manipulated the Honest Merchant while using the points he earned from achievements to purchase various necessities from the community.
Despite his hectic schedule, Jaehyuk did not feel even a bit fatigued.
He slept for six hours each day.
The high-quality sleep he hadn’t experienced until now gave him the best condition every day.
“So, this is what living like a human being feels like.”
The clarity in his vision and the absence of headaches upon waking was such a source of happiness….
As Jaehyuk enjoyed a life resembling normalcy for the first time in 8 years, turmoil ensued at the subsidiary of the Ocean Guild, Ocean Shipping.
“What? What a load of crap?”
The franchise seafood restaurant business, into which they poured time and effort, had begun faltering mid-way.
Several company-owned stores set up every 6 kilometers to capture the market in Seo District, Incheon were not attracting customers and had been nearly empty for days.
“Director Park! You bastard! How can the business not run well with all the money we invested there?”