Chapter 52: The Mysterious Uncle
Swish- Pishit-!
Seo Seungbeom’s sword cut through the air with a tallic sound.
A swirling current flowed along the tip of the blade.
Seo Seungbeom’s eyes, fixed on Ryu Jinwoo, narrowed with displeasure.
Even at this very mont of pressing the attack, the previous scene was replaying in his mind.
The mont he had a drink poured over his head and his magic power wildly surged out of control.
‘To be played for a fool by him.’
It was dangerous.
It was humiliating, but he had to admit it.
That damned drink.
He had thought Ryu Jinwoo chose it with the intention of screwing him over simply because it was expensive.
Looking back, it was clear that the guy had been aiming for it from the start.
He had chosen that drink intending to pour it over his head.
As the guy intended, his over-output magic power lost control because of it.
If he hadn't imdiately slamd his fist into the ground and channeled the current away, so of the unrestrained power would have raged out and made a ss of the surroundings.
If that had happened, there would have been no way to erase the humiliation of being toyed with in Ryu Jinwoo's palm.
‘That damned bastard.’
It wasn't re luck.
It was a thoroughly calculated move.
The sheer idea was sharp, in that he attempted to exploit Seo Seungbeom's weakness using that.
However, he had now regained his senses.
Having composed his magic power and stabilized the flow, there was no longer a reason to be shaken.
Seo Seungbeom calmly regulated his breathing and fixed his gaze on Ryu Jinwoo.
The guy still hadn't drawn his sword.
What was his intention this ti?
But it didn't matter what trick he was aiming for.
He wouldn't be fooled again, nor did he have a reason to be.
“Are you just going to keep dodging?”
The mont Seo Seungbeom's foot kicked off the ground, magic power surged up through his lower body.
The current enveloping his entire body was not irregular like before.
It was not explosive output but ticulously refined sharpness.
Seo Seungbeom’s sword shot out like lightning.
The sharp blade tip dove right up to Ryu Jinwoo's nose.
A distance so close it felt suffocating.
In that instant, the guy twisted his head.
The fiercely passing blade tip cut off so of his hair near his ear and sliced through the air.
Swoosh-!
The sword tip grazed the air, but Seo Seungbeom allowed him no chance to breathe.
The trajectory of the sword followed imdiately.
The flow, which did not distinguish between up, down, left, or right, was truly reminiscent of lightning strikes in a downpour.
Yet, Ryu Jinwoo did not permit even a single hit.
He twisted his waist, ducked his head, and smoothly pulled his body backward as if sliding.
Movents focused solely on avoiding the impending attacks, without any unnecessary motion.
Seo Seungbeom's brow gradually furrowed at the fluid deploynt of movent.
‘......He can see all my attacks?’
Ryu Jinwoo did not close his eyes for even a single mont.
He was concentrating all his attention on every single one of Seo Seungbeom’s movents.
I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.
But since he had drawn his sword, he couldn't stop.
He wouldn't be satisfied until he carved a deep scar onto the guy’s face.
The mont Seo Seungbeom firmly resolved himself and raised his sword again.
“......”
Suddenly, Ryu Jinwoo’s expression changed.
He stared at a point behind Seo Seungbeom with a look of disbelief and wide eyes.
‘What is it?’
Seo Seungbeom was confused. It was too sudden.
The guy who had been indifferently deflecting the sword until just monts ago was suddenly making a surprised expression?
No matter how he thought about it, it had to be strange.
‘Is sothing happening behind ?’
Just as that thought occurred to him.
‘No.’
Seo Seungbeom steeled his resolve.
That damned guy must be pulling another trick.
‘He's probably planning to use the mont I turn around to aim for a surprise attack after making that surprised expression.’
If he was careless for a mont, this guy would hit him from behind in an unexpected way.
Just as he was trying to forcefully ignore the strange sign and thrust his sword again.
“Tch, do kids these days not carry any money?”
A low, dry voice was heard.
“What?”
Seo Seungbeom’s head snapped back.
The sight revealed was shocking.
All of Seo Seungbeom’s gang mbers were lying sprawled on the ground.
One person was foaming at the mouth with only the whites of their eyes showing.
Another was slumped against the wall, hanging limply.
And in the center of it all.
The long-haired man in the leather jacket was casually rifling through the pockets of the collapsed children.
His black hair, reaching his shoulders, flowed loosely, and the scar that crossed his face over his bronze skin was eerily visible under the faint light.
‘That's the guy from before.’
The man one of the gang mbers said was following us.
Did he disappear midway only to secretly follow us?
“Not much here.”
He lifted one wallet, dusted it off, and muttered listlessly.
His eyes t Seo Seungbeom's.
“Ugh—!”
Seo Seungbeom gritted his teeth and aid the tip of his sword at the man.
He drew up all the magic power in his body, and the current flashed- once again across his entire body.
But at that mont.
“......!”
The man's form vanished from his sight.
Without even leaving an afterimage.
Snap-!
“Huh?”
Following that, the sound of an arm being strangely twisted was heard.
Seo Seungbeom couldn't understand what had happened.
But as extre pain surged through his shoulder, he understood the situation in an instant.
His elbow joint was bent backward, and lightning-like pain shot up along his nerve endings.
“Agh, Aaaaargh!”
Seo Seungbeom’s scream echoed through the alley.
As he stumbled backward, the man roughly rummaged through his pocket.
“I salvaged one at least.”
A callous voice flowed from the scarred face.
In his hand was Seo Seungbeom’s wallet.
“Who are you, you son of a......!”
The mont Seo Seungbeom exclaid in a voice wracked with pain.
Thud-!
Sothing hit his face with a dull impact.
His vision blurred, and the last thing he saw was only the expressionless face of the unfamiliar man.
Soon, darkness descended, and everything went out.
***
The sudden intrusion of a man.
‘Why is that person here......?’
I couldn't hide my surprise at the sight.
[Jack]
The na of the man that the Eye of Deception showed
was too familiar.
I silently watched his figure.
“Ugh......”
One of the collapsed gang mbers let out a difficult moan.
At that mont, Jack's foot stomped down nonchalantly.
Crunch-!
With a dull sound as if bones were crushing, the boy's body went limp.
He was completely knocked out.
He proceeded to stomp on the remaining individuals one by one.
The children who were pretending to be unconscious occasionally let out groans of pain, then completely lost consciousness and slumped down.
It was a brutal sight.
The man’s identity was Jack.
A mber of Bren who had participated in the Mystery Hall terror incident.
In other words, a colleague of Balzac.
But why had he appeared here now?
‘Did he co for revenge?’
My heart felt like it sank.
“Tch.”
The sound of him clicking his tongue rang out first.
Jack slowly turned his head, and his gaze now focused on .
“He's reduced to playing patty-cake with these brats. What a stupid bastard.”
A low, thick voice pierced .
A chilling sensation ran down my spine.
But at the sa ti, sothing was strange.
[Jack]
[Tiredness, Annoyance, Irritation.]
The emotions displayed by the Eye of Deception were sowhat alien.
If he had co for revenge, he should at least be feeling hostility.
Jack’s emotions were utterly indifferent in that regard.
And the words he directed at
were strange for soone who had co for revenge.
Jack's gaze and tone were, instead, that of soone speaking to an opponent he had known well for a long ti.
‘No way.’
As one possibility suddenly crossed my mind.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“Jack.”
Silence lingered at my words.
Then he began to move toward .
“Not Jack, but......”
He brought his face right up to mine and continued speaking.
“‘Lord Jack,’ wouldn't it be.”
“......”
“Tch, do you still think you're that guy from before? If you entered a brat's body, you should act like a brat and humble yourself.”
Hearing those words, I narrowed my brows.
And at the sa ti, I was certain.
‘He’s mistaking
for Balzac.’
Suddenly, past events began to flow like a panorama.
The final battle I had with Balzac in the Mystery Hall.
The scene where his main body ca out and approached
just before my vision blacked out.
And after that, reaching the bizarre place called the ‘Core of the Soul,’ and further receiving the system ssage that I had digested 'Balzac' from the Mimic.
If so, Balzac was truly dead, and for so reason, he had attempted to usurp my body but was absorbed instead.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for Jack to appear now and perceive
as Balzac.
Hiss-!
Jack blew out a puff of smoke from a cigarette and glared.
“I ca to see why you beca so little runt, but it seems you haven't given up that cheeky nature.”
If Jack was mistaking
for Balzac, it ant that the entire ‘Bren’ organization might be mistaking
for Balzac.
Therefore, I shouldn't casually let any strange words slip.
I quickly recalled my mory of the original work.
The conversations between Balzac and his colleagues appeared intermittently in the middle parts of the ga.
Jack had just told
to call him ‘Lord Jack,’ but Balzac never did.
“Why are you here, Jack? Did you co on your own accord?”
Informal speech.
A thoroughly arrogant attitude that completely disregards the opponent.
I had to mimic the disposition Balzac had shown.
“Hoo-.”
Swoosh-!
After Jack exhaled smoke, a punch suddenly rushed toward , and I reflexively twisted my waist to avoid it.
“......Tch.”
Jack looked down at
with an incredulous look.
[Jack]
[Displeasure, Annoyance, Irritation.]
I dodged without aning to.
No, it was unavoidable since the Evasion Instinct trait activated.
However, it seed okay for now.
Jack didn't seem to suspect anything.
‘Then again, it would be funny for him to suspect
now. Especially since I said Jack’s na.’
Nonetheless, I needed to be careful.
I might be able to dodge a lightly thrown punch, but if Jack were serious.......
I might have my neck snapped without even being able to follow his afterimage.
That level of difference existed between
and Jack.
Therefore, there was no reason to unnecessarily provoke him or say anything unnecessary.
However, it seed I had already provoked him.
“I've told you ti and ti again, I despise guys like you and Edward.”
He put out the cigarette on his palm and narrowed his brow.
“Freaks who don't just change their minds but arbitrarily change their appearance too.”
The sll of burned tobacco reached my nose.
“The guy who was a middle-aged beard until recently suddenly lives as an academy cadet? It makes
want to vomit. Tch.”
Jack’s gaze was fixed on .
That look expressed hostility much more explicitly than his words.
“That is—.”
“Shut up.”
When I opened my mouth to say sothing, he stopped .
“There is only one reason I'm here. Edward and the other mbers seem to trust you, but.”
Jack leaned his mouth close to my ear and muttered quietly.
“Tch, I don't trust you. Frankly, if you decide to live a new life in that new body now, wouldn't we be the only ones screwed? How do we know you won't sell our information to the governnt?”
“I would never—.”
“Yes, you’d better never. This is a warning. I'll make sure it's etched into your new body too. What happens if you betray us or defy us.”
Jack raised his fist again.
And just as he was about to punch .
“St-Stop!”
A high, sharp shout echoed in the alley.
In an awkward state, Jack’s and my gaze turned toward that direction.
Standing there were Do Haru and Seol Hayun.
“What are you doing right now!”
Do Haru exclaid with a heavily flushed face.
Following her, Seol Hayun's aura pressed in.
She was poised for battle at any mont.
Even though she was just standing there silently, a tense pressure was conveyed.
“How did you two get here?”
I asked, dumbfounded.
The situation was not good.
Now that the kids had run into a lunatic like Jack, I didn't know what might happen.
“An employee told . A group of boys took you out.”
Do Haru stomped closer toward
with a huff.
“But who are you? Who are you to try to hit a student? And what's with those collapsed kids over there?”
How should I handle this?
I racked my brain, but no suitable solution ca to mind.
The tension filled the surroundings, tightly swirling.
At that mont.
“Tch.”
The sound of him clicking his tongue rang out.
Jack also seed not to have expected these two to appear.
Jack pondered sothing for a mont.
Then he pointed toward
with his chin and opened his mouth.
“I'm his uncle.”
He pointed his thumb behind him and continued speaking.
“Those bastards were bullying this one, so I taught them a lesson. And this one....... I was about to punch him because he was annoying.”
The brazen declaration of being an uncle rang out.
The surroundings instantly froze.
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