WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Returned as a God ◈

Chapter 82: Why Me! Why! (3)

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I hadn't expected him to just hand it over easily, but nine tenths was a bit much.

"I said I'd win, didn't I?"

"So, nine tenths."

"I'm going to win!"

"You've got a lot of nerve, freeloading off my points without conscience. I'm Unaffiliated, you know!"

Since when was being jobless something to brag about?

I'd dragged this guy all the way here because he seemed dead set on fighting, and now my own side was tripping me up.

I pouted, and Choi Suhyun let out a reluctant sigh.

"Five tenths, no more. And if you lose, get ready to take a dive in the Han River that same day."

Choi Suhyun made a call the moment he finished talking.

I couldn't figure out what lending merit points had to do with a phone call, but that confusion didn't last long.

A familiar voice came through Choi Suhyun's phone.

"You need to come down to the Association."

"...What?"

"I know you're at guild headquarters. Get over here."

Choi Suhyun said his piece one-sidedly and hung up.

Poor Park Siyu.

Calling a guy like that a friend.

If it were me, I'd have cut ties a hundred times over by now.

"What? Huh? When did I ever say I'd lend you my merit points?"

"If I lose? You know what happens, right?"

Both of these guys seemed like nobody normal when it came to hunters.

Content: Mock Battle
Duration: 6 hours

[Entry fee: 500k]

['Choi Jaebyung (Lux)' has joined the game.]

Thanks to Choi Suhyun's consideration, we got to borrow a practice room in the basement.

"Is causing trouble your hobby or something?"

Park Siyu, who'd suddenly become a merit point delivery service, muttered as he handed over 500,000 points.

"Did I call you here? Suhyun-hyung called you, didn't he?"

"Borrowing merit points from Choi Suhyun would be a lot easier if you tried an interest-free loan from a loan shark instead."

"Ugh, cheapskate. They say the ones who already have it hold on tighter, and the old saying's never wrong."

"What'd you say, punk?"

Choi Suhyun snapped angrily but never actually denied it.

I'd known he wouldn't lend easily, but I hadn't expected him to drag Park Siyu into it too.

Well, whatever.

I glanced over at Kang Moonkook sitting in the corner of the practice room.

Even splitting five tenths with Choi Suhyun, that was still 250,000 points.

Not bad terms for dancing on stage with a rookie.

Besides, I wasn't even the real performer here.

Strictly speaking, I was more like the audience in this whole thing.

Choi Suhyun tossed something at me and Choi Jaebyung.

It looked like a sticker a little smaller than a palm, but the material felt more like cloth.

A special fabric called a "Pointer."

I pressed it against my chest, neck, and stomach, and it stuck on naturally, lighting up.

The rules were simple.

No skills allowed except buffs. Intentional injury voids the match.

Hit the three Pointers on your body with a certain amount of force, and the light goes out.

Whoever puts out all three Pointers first wins.

Choi Jaebyung, wearing Pointers on the same spots as me, stepped forward.

His weapon of choice was a sword.

One of the most common weapons out there, but somehow it still felt unexpected.

Most Raon Guild hunters I'd seen so far leaned toward magic-based skills.

Choi Jaebyung gripped his sword and spoke as he approached.

"Confession time, knocking you out back during trainee days was an accident. I didn't think you'd be that weak. Honestly, getting knocked out from one punch was kind of..."

Don't talk about someone else's blackout moment like that when you don't even remember it.

Even if you don't remember, embarrassing is still embarrassing!

"I don't know what happened after you became a hunter, but there's one thing I can tell."

"You're different now from who you were back then. Standing here like this, I can tell. It's like you're a completely different person."

Well. Technically I am a different person, aren't I?

Since I couldn't exactly say that out loud, I cleared my throat and let it slide quietly.

"Normally I'd hold back, but now that the Representative's lent me 500,000 points, I can't afford to lose."

"Uh, sure."

I watched the guy steel his resolve and tapped my fingertips quietly.

There was no signal to start.

Choi Jaebyung lunged first.

Unlike my plain-looking sword, his was quite flashy.

Now I understood what he'd meant about being different from Han Jongho.

The difference showed even in the weapon.

Choi Jaebyung swung his sword upward from below.

I blocked every one of his attacks without moving from where I stood.

He seemed to fall back for a moment, then reset his stance and swung the sword down vertically.

Even so, this wasn't something I could block just standing still.

I stepped back once and knocked the blade aside.

His stance should've wobbled from that, but he spun around immediately and counterattacked.

"Hey! I could've died just now!"

Snap.

The Pointer stuck to my neck got sliced clean in half and dropped away.

Blood trickled down below my neck.

I wasn't joking, if that had gone a little deeper, my neck would've been cut clean or I'd have taken a serious injury.

I swung my sword around irritably, and Choi Jaebyung reset his stance.

"Real combat, just like practice."

"You'll cause an accident like that. What if you get hurt?"

"With that kind of resolve, better to lose an arm here than die in a dungeon."

"What are you even saying? Have you ever actually lost an arm?"

The world really had gotten harsh these days, apparently.

People these days have no middle ground! None at all!

I pulled out healing ointment from my pocket and applied it to my neck.

Choi Jaebyung's expression twisted.

"Ointment's against the rules."

"Nobody said no ointment."

"Who stops mid-fight to slap on medicine?"

"Whose bright idea was it to say practice like it's real combat, again?"

Choi Jaebyung caught the intent behind my words and shut his mouth.

His one-handed sword dug in.

The clang of metal on metal rang nonstop through the practice room.

Strong, this one.

Unlike my sword, Choi Jaebyung's was on the larger side.

Usable as a one-handed sword, sure, but anyone less than exceptional would struggle to wield it single-handed.

The reason wasn't hard to find.

A sword that pushed forward with almost frantic force, and the stance told the rest of the story.

I twisted my body to dodge an attack and slipped my sword toward the exposed side.

The tip grazed his left shoulder, leaving a cut.

Confusion flickered across Choi Jaebyung's face.

Of course it did.

His Pointer was on the right shoulder.

He clearly hadn't expected me to aim for the other side.

Just as I thought.

I smirked inwardly.

Choi Jaebyung's attacks were definitely threatening, carrying real weight even as one-handed strikes.

He's killed someone before.

Otherwise, there was no way he'd go straight for the neck like that, one-sidedly.

But that was as far as it went.

Whatever killing Choi Jaebyung had done was probably closer to slaughter than actual killing.

Killing where the opponent couldn't even fight back, from an overwhelming difference in skill.

That's not something you can call killing.

Choi Jaebyung reset his stance and charged in.

His sword aimed for my thigh.

I knocked the descending blade away.

Since I'd gone for the spot without a Pointer, I already knew he'd aim somewhere else too.

More than that.

The fact that he even had a specific target in mind was proof enough that he still hadn't shaken the idea of "practice" out of his head.

And this guy talks about real combat like practice?

Now I was actually getting annoyed.

Choi Jaebyung's sword grazed my right shoulder.

The Pointer on the right went dark.

I twisted my body slightly and aimed my sword at his neck.

He hurriedly turned his sword to block.

His face went pale as I pointed the tip of the Sky Sword at him.

The blade's edge caught the light and glowed blue.

I tapped the sword lightly and spoke.

"Want me to tell you your mistakes? First, bringing up real combat to me."

Second.

I closed in fast and swung my sword.

"If you think of me as a rival, shouldn't you at least come at me giving it everything you've got?"

"You little punk, testing me out like that."

I pulled my sword back slightly and swept a kick toward his body.

"Wait... gah!"

Choi Jaebyung's body flew back and slammed into the wall.

I sheathed my sword and dusted off my hands.

"Are you out of your mind. Hey!"

Choi Suhyun, watching from a distance, shouted asking if I'd lost it, but I looked away and pretended not to notice.

Choi Jaebyung spat out the blood pooled in his mouth and staggered back to his feet.

"Not, not over yet."

"What's not over. It's over."

I sheathed my sword and pointed a finger at him.

All three Pointers on Choi Jaebyung's body had gone dark.

I thought something felt off.

Choi Jaebyung was better at defense than offense.

Not the stance of someone who fights with a one-handed sword.

I'd figured it out the moment our blades crossed a few times.

This guy was a classic tank.

"Bring a shield next time. I'll wreck that too, along with you."

"How the hell did you just do that?"

Choi Jaebyung scowled, clearly unhappy about losing track of my movement.

"Skillfully."

"Skillfully! Are you deaf? You think an enemy's gonna teach you their techniques if you ask? You think that, huh?"

Choi Jaebyung couldn't find a comeback to my answer and just pouted.

"We're not enemies, though."

Shouldn't that not be the part that upsets you?

"We're rivals."

"What... that's basically the same as enemies then."

"I thought you were a normal guy. People shouldn't live with double standards like that."

They say nothing's more hopeless than a guy who runs on no logic at all.

This one fit that description perfectly.

I waved my hand around.

"One more round."

"What did you even hear from what I said? Go get a shield!"

"If I bring a shield, we go one more round, right?"

"You said we'd go one more round if I brought a shield."

"You've got a lot of merit points to spare, huh?"

I turned my eyes toward the three of them.

Choi Suhyun was clutching his stomach laughing, calling it sweet revenge, Park Siyu stood there calmly, and Kang Moonkook sat with his shoulders hunched way down, a hand pressed to his forehead.

Right on cue, the Zero-sum game ended and the merit points came pouring in.

Choi Jaebyung's face went blue.

"If I bring a shield, will you go another round?"

"Don't make me say the same thing twice."

"It's not that, I just feel like I need to at least break even."

"What are you even talking about..."

A faint killing intent drifted in from behind me.

Kang Moonkook's face was smiling, but it wasn't actually smiling.

Choi Jaebyung broke into a cold sweat and whispered something to me.

"I'll bring the shield, so could you maybe go easy on me? Our Representative's usually chill about most things, but when it comes to this kind of stuff he gets real, you know, sensitive, no matter how big he looks."

Kang Moonkook kept closing in, and Choi Jaebyung backed away behind me.

Why are you hiding behind me?

You're bigger than me, for crying out loud!

"Impressive skill. Didn't expect to get pushed back this hard. Guess Representative Park really does have an eye for tal... for hunters."

"What can I do for you?"

"How about a round with me?"

500,000 points really is a lot, isn't it?

Shameless old man.

Why are you doing this to me?! Why?!

Footnotes:

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