"M-mister… Who are you?"
"What…?"
Kim JaeHyun's eyes widened.
He was looking at Kim YeongHoon in confusion.
"YeongHoon, it's me. Your father!"
"Wh-what are you talking about, Mister?"
Kim YeongHoon looked at him cautiously.
It was as if all memories about his father had disappeared.
"Y-YeongHoon."
Kim JaeHyun's eyes began shaking.
Kim YeongHoon couldn't remember him—he was looking at him cautiously as if they were strangers.
That shock made him tremble.
"Ah…"
Kim JaeHyun covered his mouth.
He felt nauseous.
He thought that he was about to vomit at any moment, and his mind became blank.
Kim YeongHoon calling him ‘Mister’ felt somehow unfamiliar.
"What did you do?"
Kim JaeHyun turned around, his body shaking.
There, he saw KangWoo, who was smiling.
Just seeing him smile was enough to make him lose control.
"I said… What did you do?!" Kim JaeHyun shouted.
His eyes were wide, and his voice became sharp.
His image of a modest gentleman changed completely.
But it was understandable. Maintaining his reason in that situation would've been weird.
His son, the memories of his beloved son, had been cut out.
That was more shocking than seeing him without limbs.
Was that how he would feel if Kim YeongHoon had died in front of him?
Kim JaeHyun wasn't sure.
He thought he wouldn't even have felt such pain if Kim YeongHoon had died. He wouldn't have felt that weird sensation of having grabbed something without shape.
"L-let me go, Mister! But more than that, where am I?"
Kim YeongHoon tried to free himself.
Every time his son called him ‘Mister’, JaeHyun he felt that the chains holding his reason were being cut down.
"Y-you…"
Kim JaeHyun trembled while looking at KangWoo.
After letting Kim YeongHoon go, he slowly stood up.
He felt that his entire world was crumbling. No, it had probably already crumbled.
Strong killing intent rose from him.
"Ch-chairman."
"Please calm down!"
Executives of the Mir Guild tried to hold him down.
But Kim JaeHyun wasn't able to hear them at the moment.
Kim JaeHyun looked at KangWoo’s mouth.
He felt that the smile he saw there was engraved inside his head as if it were a stigma. He almost felt that he could hear him laugh.
"You bastard!!"
His mana exploded.
The land under him was split.
He was one of the top 10 players in Korea.
They said the minimum requirement to become a ranker was completing the eighth Awakening, but he had already finished the ninth.
The man they said had four S-rank attributes began losing control of himself.
Boom-! Boom!
He leaped forward.
The land around them began trembling as if an earthquake was happening, and the concrete was destroyed from the excess mana.
Mana shining with a golden color appeared on his fists.
Unlike others, it was a mana that had a clear shape.
—It was an energy that resembled those that appeared in martial art novels.
While being covered in mana, he leaped toward KangWoo.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
It was Chae YeonJoo who blocked his path.
Red chains flew out of Chae YeonJoo's palms and surrounded Kim JaeHyun.
Kim JaeHyun punched the red chains that were also covered by mana with a clear shape.
Boom-!!
There was a huge explosion that shook the surroundings.
It was a destructive power that went beyond humans.
The moment the punch and chains clashed, a huge explosion happened.
"Move!"
Kim JaeHyun, who had lost his mind, shouted.
Chae YeonJoo once again threw the chains to Kim JaeHyun, who was leaping forward like a beast.
Boom-!
"Ugh!!"
It was true that Kim JaeHyun was one of Korea's top 10 players, but Chae YeonJoo was also among that group.
The red chains moved as if they were alive and passed through Kim JaeHyun's body.
His skin was torn apart by thorns.
Kim JaeHyun cut the chains with his hands.
The red chains fell to the sides, and blood swelled out from the parts of his body that had been torn apart by the chains.
Kim JaeHyun didn't care about that.
—He was trying to move forward, ignoring Chae YeonJoo.
"Ha-ab!"
After Chae YeonJoo, Baek HwaYeon blocked him.
She swung her white longsword, targeting Kim JaeHyun's neck.
Kim JaeHyun brushed off the white longsword with his mana-covered fists.
Baek HwaYeon was pushed back by that stupidly strong power.
"Cough!"
Baek HwaYeon coughed—she was one step lower than Chae YeonJoo and Kim JaeHyun.
It was hard for her to block Kim JaeHyun's attack.
"HwaYeon! Back off for the moment!"
"Okay!"
Baek HwaYeon nodded and increased her distance from Kim JaeHyun.
Chae YeonJoo filled the empty place and opened her arms.
The bracelet on her wrist began to glow with a red color.
Chains emerged from her red bracelet.
It was the legendary weapon 'Bloodthirsty Chains.'
It was a strong weapon that you could call her trademark.
Slide-!
The red chains gathered together.
The chains that formed a shape resembling a mace were launched toward Kim JaeHyun.
* * *
He raised his right fist after seeing that attack with a power that couldn't be ignored.
The chains that had been launched toward him spread like a net.
He would be caught by the neck if he didn't back off.
Even in that situation, Kim JaeHyun didn't move backward—he moved forward as if he couldn't see the net.
Kim JaeHyun was caught by the net made of chains.
"AARRGG!"
He thrashed violently.
JaeHyun paid a high price for running wild in the middle of a net made of chains.
The parts of his skin struck by the chains were torn apart.
Kim JaeHyun didn't care about his skin tearing up, and he grabbed the chains with both of his hands.
The muscles of his arms, which were covered with mana, swelled to the bursting point.
Crack-!
The chains were cut as if they were only ropes.
"I told you to move!!"
Kim JaeHyun's voice, which showed that he had lost his mind, spread through the place.
Horrible wounds covered his body, and blood seeped out from the wounds.
His wounds were so deep that it wouldn't be weird if he died immediately.
But he had surpassed level 80 and finished the ninth Awakening, so he wouldn't collapse from just that.
"What a crazy…"
Chae YeonJoo was surprised after looking at Kim JaeHyun, who had completely lost his mind.
'To think he'd be able to go through this attack.'
Her legendary-rank weapon, the 'Bloodthirsty Chains' had a special effect called energy drain.
Energy drain was supposed to cut the mana of anything that touched the chains…
But Kim JaeHyun still looked full of energy.
'He's planning to keep charging, even if it costs him his life.'
Chae YeonJoo's expression hardened.
"AAGGHH!"
Kim JaeHyun once again started to move forward.
Back HwaYeon hit the floor and leaped forward.
"YeonJoo! Support me, please!"
"Okay!"
Chae YeonJoo extended her hand toward Baek HwaYeon, and the red chains formed a shield in front of her.
Boom-!!
Kim JaeHyun stepped forward.
The floor around him in a radius of around 10 meters exploded upward.
He twisted his body and raised his right fist, using the elasticity of his waist to give the punch momentum.
The mana around his punch began to spread.
Baek HwaYeon received a huge impact.
She hid behind the shield of chains that Chae YeonJoo had made.
The mana burst the chains, and Baek HwaYeon took that opportunity and attacked him with her sword from below.
The mana he had sent through the chains cut them in two.
After making a huge attack, though, a gap appeared in his defense. Baek HwaYeon's eyes shone sharply.
'Whirlwind.'
Her attribute skill activated.
A strong wind surrounded the white longsword and she swung it at such a speed that forced Kim JaeHyun to move backward.
The blade brushed past his body by a narrow margin.
Slash-!
Although he had avoided the blade, he couldn't completely dodge the whirlwind around it.
From the sides to the clavicle…
A fountain of blood began sprouting out of Kim JaeHyun.
Baek HwaYeon shrugged after seeing the wound.
It would be troublesome if Kim JaeHyun died—he had an important clue that could lead to them capturing the members of the Demon Cult.
Her hesitation created an opportunity.
"Abyss!"
Bzzt-!!
Kim JaeHyun smashed the ground with both fists.
With the sound of thunder, strong energy exploded like a volcano .
The mana storm hit Baek HwaYeon.
"Cough!"
She rolled on the ground after being swept by the storm and vomited dark blood.
It was a powerful technique.
Baek HwaYeon stood up, trembling. She could’ve been fatally wounded if she’d remained still.
But she was worried about nothing.
Kim JaeHyun wasn't targeting her.
"GRRAARR!"
After shouting like a monster, Kim JaeHyun, who was covered in blood, ran toward KangWoo.
There was only 20 meters of distance between them.
Considering that JaeHyun was a player who had superhuman strength, that was similar to being only one step away.
"Chain spear!"
Chae YeonJoo wasn't weak enough to let an opponent who was ignoring her and charging toward KangWoo go.
Five chains were launched toward Kim JaeHyun.
Stab. There were 15 meters left, and a chain embedded itself in his right thigh.
Stab Stab. There were 10 meters left, and a chain latched onto his left hand and another one onto his arm.
Paf. There were 5 meters left, and a chain pierced his right arm.
And…
"Oof. Oof…"
Kim JaeHyun looked at the chain that had pierced through his stomach.
Rough breaths came out of his mouth.
Blood ran down his mouth.
JaeHyun saw the young man who was standing right in front of him.
KangWoo was smiling as if he was making fun of him.
"Ugh. Ah. Ah."
Kim JaeHyun used all of his remaining strength and swung his right fist.
But his fist didn’t contain any mana, not even a diffused mana.
Paf-
The right fist weakly hit KangWoo.
Kim JaeHyun, who had used all of his strength, collapsed.
KangWoo bent down a bit and made eye contact with Kim JaeHyun.
Their eyes met.
Kim JaeHyun looked as if he was about to become unconscious at any moment.
KangWoo slowly extended his hand and grabbed Kim JaeHyun's back; their faces got so close to each other that they were about to touch.
A low voice came out of KangWoo's mouth.
"Do you finally know who I am?"
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