WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ I Returned as a God ◈

Chapter 105: Park Siyu (2)

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The moment Park Siyu's words landed, the Hunters moved.

A path opened up in front of Yeongno, clean as a highway.

My feet felt unbelievably light as I ran.

A buff skill cast by someone on the Raon Guild side.

Unlike Han Jongho, Jin Sangbyeok at least seemed to know how to keep work and personal grudges separate.

"Oh, right. What happened with Song Eunyoung?"

Park Siyu's voice reached me while I was in the middle of sprinting.

"Suhyun-hyung didn't tell you?"

"Been too busy lately, haven't talked to him. Did you hand her off to Choi Suhyun?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Better him than me, since I never pick up anyway."

I scrolled fast through the comment thread where Eunyoung-noona and Choi Suhyun had been going at it.

[03. Look at Song Eunyoung. 8 days ago]

Posted by: Choi Suhyun

Read this and comment

└ Song Eunyoung (Follower) ??

└ Choi Suhyun (Follower) ?

└ Song Eunyoung (Follower) ??? What is wrong with you??

└ Choi Suhyun (Follower) You alive?

└ Song Eunyoung (Follower) I'm alive, that's why I'm commenting, genius. You think a corpse types?

└ Choi Suhyun (Follower) Way you talk, sounds healthy enough to me.

Most of the comments went exactly like that. No secret there.

Bonus points for the one where Song Eunyoung said she wanted kimchi jjigae and Choi Suhyun taunted her by saying he was eating some right now.

These are supposed to be my followers?

They sure know how to have fun.

All of this happened while I was busy getting worked to the bone with Lee Eunyheui in the tower.

Choi Jaebyung, who'd been listening in on my conversation with Park Siyu on Channel 1, cut in.

"Speaking of which, heard a rumor Choi Suhyun's quitting the Association. That true?"

"Tch, since when do adults let brats butt into their conversation."

"Who's a brat! So is it true or not?"

"Guess it's fine for you to talk now, huh?"

"Uh, well... got sick of it and bailed."

Real proud of that, are you, kid.

Choi Jaebyung was definitely not right in the head either.

"So is Choi Suhyun really quitting the Association?"

Choi Suhyun quitting wasn't a small thing.

If Choi Suhyun was leaving, that meant he'd landed somewhere, joined some side.

"Suhyun-hyung, did you actually quit yet?"

"Why are you asking me?! I was asking you! Were you even listening to a word I said?"

Choi Suhyun had become a follower of the god Soter not long after I took the aptitude test.

Choi Jaebyung kept right on asking, undeterred.

"So who the hell recruited Choi Suhyun?"

"You literally just heard me and Park Siyu talking about that and you're asking me anyway?"

"Why are you always picking a fight with me... ah. Wait. Why would someone like that go for some nobody like..."

That little punk.

His voice cut off mid-sentence, which meant he'd definitely broadcast that by accident.

Nobody, was it!

Excuse me?

Just you wait till this raid's over!

"Hm, that's unexpected."

"If that was on purpose to get under my skin, well done, I'll give you that."

"Choi Jaebyung, don't make it so obvious."

"Yes sir. Understood."

One word from Park Siyu and Jaebyung shut right up.

"Oh, and don't worry too much about Eunyoung-noona."

Park Siyu was clearly still bothered about losing track of her at the amusement park.

If Yu Jihan the Transcendent and Park Siyu ever fought, who'd win?

I ran the matchup in my head a few times, but I couldn't picture a clear outcome.

"Hangyeol-ssi! Above you!"

"Whoa! You little..."

A shadow fell over my head, and Yeongno's tail came flying in.

The massive tail slammed down into the ground.

Me, Choa, and a handful of other Hunters leaped clear of it.

Yeongno seemed to have realized that harassment tactics weren't working.

I landed on its back, kept my balance, and swung my sword lightly.

The strike cut through the air and shattered a scale on the creature's cheek.

Hunters gathered around Yeongno one by one.

"Cycle buffs, support-capable Hunters fall back. Who's taking tank duty?"

"I'll do it."

Once Park Siyu arrived last, Choi Jaebyung raised his left hand high.

For someone who'd claimed to bring a shield, there wasn't one in sight.

Instead, his left hand wore a black glove with a large brooch attached.

He fed mana into it, and a massive shield materialized over his hand.

Looked like an incredibly convenient item to have.

Yeongno, thoroughly furious now, looked down at everyone below.

The storm clouds thickened, and its horns flashed with light.

Countless bolts of lightning rained down on the Hunters from the sky.

"Ha, that's nothing!"

Choi Jaebyung raised the shield high.

The shield's shape grew larger, sheltering the Hunters nearby from the lightning.

Thunder cracked as the bolts struck the shield.

Me and a few other DPS types drew our weapons and watched for the timing.

"Now."

At Park Siyu's signal, Choi Jaebyung dropped the shield.

Some lingering bolts still fell, but nothing serious.

Once the shield vanished completely, I moved in along with several other Hunters to attack.

An explosion tore into one side of the massive body.

"DPS team, upper right, tank keeps supporting from the rear. Anyone in support with a CC skill ready?"

"I can do it."

"I'll give the signal, stand by."

Standing dead center among the Hunters, Park Siyu kept issuing orders.

Calling this raid an organized operation would've been generous.

It was closer to a slapped-together strike team, everyone's goals happening to line up.

Until the boss goes down, anyway.

The longer the fight dragged on, the sharper Park Siyu's command got.

"Use your AoE and dodge out, don't overextend. Pull back! Tank out and..."

A scale embedded in Yeongno's body shot toward a Hunter suspended in midair.

Park Siyu swung his Light Saber.

The strike lashed out and split the scale clean in half before it hit.

"Ah, thank you..."

Park Siyu tilted his head slightly and went right back to calling out the situation.

I'd never once seen him talk this much since I'd met him.

"I'll go help out below."

Choa braced a hand on Yeongno's body and leaped down.

I switched over to Channel 1 with a flick of my finger.

"Hey! Why don't I get orders? Order me around too!"

"He said figure it out yourself. Boss is busy, don't bother him."

Gangwoo-hyung was the one who answered.

I deflected incoming scales while looking down below.

Goblins and Imugi were swarming together down there.

"So mean! Hmm. Okay, I'm dropping down to support, cover the gap for me."

"What? All of a sudden? Hey!"

"You said figure it out myself!"

"That didn't mean go ahead and leave your... ah, yes. Understood. Damn it, fine, do whatever you want!"

The moment permission dropped, I went down.

Another Hunter filled my spot almost instantly.

I swung my sword and steadily worked through the goblins.

[Tier 5 Protection activates.]

"What are you plotting?"

"Nothing like that."

I mounted a giant snake's back and drove my sword into its neck.

Another goblin lunged in with a blade.

I turned and cut through both the blade and the neck behind it.

Choa's expression darkened at the sight.

She wasn't the only one whose face went stiff.

I slung the sword over my shoulder and grinned.

"What is that guy?"

"Pretty sure someone said he's an Aria Guild Hunter. Not a Named, right?"

"How many of those did he just kill by himself?"

"That guy... I've heard of him. Park Siyu's line, apparently. Went B-Rank at some insane speed."

Watching the neatly cleared field of monsters, the Hunters murmured among themselves.

Guardians kept spawning on a set cycle as long as the boss stayed alive.

So the more effective play was using CC skills to pin them down as long as possible, keeping them tied up.

That required a Hunter dedicated to watching the Guardians and nothing else.

The textbook approach was to wipe them out fast, before the cooldown came back around. Then all the firepower stuck babysitting Guardians could shift back to the boss.

Everybody knew that. Almost nobody could actually pull it off in real life, though, not like in a game.

At the start, three Hunters had been assigned to this Guardian spawn. Now it was just me.

Executioner's Sword, one of the god Soter's traits, gave stacking buffs the more of a specific group you killed.

A few cooldown cycles in, I could feel myself clearing the Guardians faster and faster.

And yet...

Still, no satisfaction came from it. Not really.

I knew exactly why. When the Librarian had borrowed my body, I'd tasted what the actual limit looked like.

Once you've felt the ceiling, you realize all at once just how far you still have to go.

I fed mana into the Sky Sword, and the blood clinging to it flew off.

"How much longer do we have to keep doing this."

Jin Sangbyeok stepped back slightly from the front line and clicked his tongue.

He shrugged off his cloak and gripped his bastard sword with both hands.

Yeongno's lightning struck down toward Jin Sangbyeok as he set his stance, but the Raon Guild Hunters nearby blocked it fast.

Watching from a short distance off, Park Siyu kept calling out orders, unbothered.

"Fall back."

At those words, the Hunters who'd been stabbing at Yeongno pulled away fast.

A white magic circle opened up, centered on Jin Sangbyeok.

He raised the bastard sword high, and the circle rose with it.

"That bastard... wait, he's a Transcendent?"

Choi Jaebyung, who'd wandered up beside me, crossed his arms and shrugged.

He looked over the pile of monster corpses behind me with a face like he'd seen enough.

"Doesn't look it, but he's our vice-master. Well, our master's still stronger, though."

"Pick one, is that a compliment or an insult."

There was still some time left before the Guardian spawn cooldown reset.

That guy had clearly come down knowing exactly that.

Kuoooong.

A pulse of mana surged out around Jin Sangbyeok, and a massive knight form rose above the magic circle.

Transcendents didn't get that kind of respect for nothing.

Beings who'd pushed past their limits, and if even one stat went transcendent, the gap it made was staggering.

That wasn't even the whole story.

The price of a broken taboo never came cheap.

Transcendents could enter a Transcendent state and use a personal skill called Transcendent Mode.

There was even a saying that when two Transcendents of similar skill fought, the outcome came down not to skill but to whose Transcendent Mode was stronger.

That massive suit of armor was one kind of Transcendent Mode.

When Jin Sangbyeok moved his greatsword, the armored figure mirrored the exact same motion with its own giant blade.

One strike alone left a huge gash on Yeongno's body, black blood spraying out.

A bleed DoT another Hunter had already stacked on doubled the damage from the hit.

Jin Sangbyeok's summoned armor locked into a strength contest with Yeongno.

Other Hunters seized the opening and swarmed back onto Yeongno fast.

I stepped back once and gripped the Sky Sword tight with both hands.

"Teach me."

"Teach you what?"

"That sword you practice every night."

"I told you before, this sword..."

"Then just show me. Learning by watching over your shoulder should be fine, shouldn't it?"

Luciel had chosen to show the sword rather than teach it directly.

Needless to say, I'd never once used that sword myself after seeing it.

Closer to the truth, I'd completely forgotten about it.

A sword that had faded almost entirely from memory after that day.

Until that thing that had borrowed my body showed it to me.

I hadn't actually seen that sword with my own eyes very often. Even Luciel, who'd always looked frustrated during his practice sessions, had never once used it in a real fight.

I never found out whether he ever finished perfecting it.

Something's different.

The sword that thing had shown me and the sword I'd seen from Luciel looked similar, but there was a strange gap between them.

I drew mana up and settled into stance.

The armor Jin Sangbyeok had summoned was getting pushed back, further and further.

"No..."

"Look out!"

A few Hunters clinging to Yeongno's body couldn't pull back in time and found themselves in trouble.

I raised the sword high, then brought it down.

Where the armor had vanished, my strike shot out to fill the gap and collided with Yeongno.

Footnotes:

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