First chapter of the week. There will be double releases in the next two days (two sponsored chapters)
“This… really looks like a hand cannon?”
Staring at Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms, Kim Min-hyuk said that.
“Does it have cannon sh.e.l.ls?”
“No, I don’t have anything like that.”
This couldn’t just be a blunt weapon that was shaped like a hand cannon. It seemed like the sh.e.l.ls needed to be purchased separately.
I had never even dreamed that Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms could form this kind of weapon.
I had unconsciously limited the possibilities of weapons to just non-firearm weapons.
The Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms’ description mentioned stuff about dragons and what not. So, I thought Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms was something from a fantasy world, affirming my train of thought even more.
“I think this will be difficult to use? You don’t have any sh.e.l.ls for it. Even if you did, I think you will have to a.s.semble this lower portion somehow before using this. You probably will have to purchase separate parts for it. If you ask the manager later about this…”
Kim Min-hyuk observed the hand cannon from various angles as he mumbled. However, I felt someone approaching from the back.
Someone naturally grabbed onto my hand. I also grabbed the fingers that held my hand as I turned to look.
It was Park Jung-ah.
Before we headed to the residential buildings, we told her about our location through the messenger. It seems she came to greet us.
“You two came?”
“Yes.”
Although we didn’t say much to each other yet, just looking at her made me smile for some reason. I asked if she had been very busy. She simply said she was alright.
I felt an awkward gaze from the side. I turned to look, and it was Kim Min-hyuk, who was left alone with the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms.
“You two… why don’t you guys go get a room… Ugh…”
He is at it again.
Instead of consoling Kim Min-hyuk’s spoiled mood, I decided to not respond to it at all.
Park Jung-ah decided to do the same.
“That must be the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms? Can I take a look too?”
“Uh, yes, of course.”
Park Jung-ah was of the gunner cla.s.s.
She is probably better at handling these kinds of forms since she mainly deals with firearms.
She got the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms from Kim Min-hyuk and fiddled with it here and there.
Clank- Clank-
“So that’s how it is a.s.sembled. Its frame is formed in a way that a support pops out when you pull this. Tighten this to fix the barrel and… Inject mana through this handle and pull the trigger. That will fire the weapon. It seems this weapon requires mana from the user to be usable. Judging from that, I think it must be pretty powerful? Also, this barcode like insignia is the serial number for the sh.e.l.l needed. I do not recognize it, but if you show this to the manager, she will help you purchase the right kind.”
Oh, what is this? She is so cool.
Even though this was her first time seeing the weapon, she masterfully figured out how to use it. She even gave me a variety of advice. Watching her, I thought she looked so cool.
I found her extremely attractive showing her expertise in this kind of thing.
Perhaps I just have a beer goggle.
“Still, I don’t think I’ll be using this weapon a lot. It is definitely a powerful, long-range method of attack, but it is not like I am having difficulties in clearing stages right now. Moreover, I think my growth is more important. It is not like I’m developing skills related to this.”
“Is that so?”
“Depending on situations, I might use it a few times, but I probably won’t use it very often.”
“Um… How about this then?”
Park Jung-ah thought hard about this for a moment and then formed a handgun with the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms.
It even has a handgun form…
Actually, it even has a hand cannon, so why not.
“Um… It would be useful for self-defense, but… As I said earlier, my growth is more important, so, well… Still, I think I’ll find this handgun to be useful occasionally.”
Although I told her that, it seemed Park Jung-ah was not satisfied with my response.
She continued to deliberate about this as she formed various weapons with the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms, for over almost 10 minutes.
I should not have talked to her about the firearm types as if they were more or less useless.
I was careless.
I didn’t think she would be so focused on finding a form that would be useful for me. I didn’t think she would try this hard.
“Hey, how long are you guys going to be at it? Let’s go back.”
“That’s right, Jung-ah. The handgun form that you showed me will definitely be helpful. That will be enough for me.”
“Ah, please wait. Just a bit.”
However, she didn’t listen as if she was trying to tell us not to interrupt her.
Oh my, unexpectedly, she sure can be mighty stubborn.
No, this is not unexpected. I knew very well that she was stubborn.
I have seen her stubbornness many times as she managed the Order of Vigilance.
However, I didn’t know she would be so persistent on something so trivial like this.
It looked like she was h.e.l.l-bent on finding a useful form for me. She was still deliberating and fiddling with the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms. Kim Min-hyuk sighed.
I just gave up and sat on a chair that I brought out from the inventory.
I brought out chairs for Park Jung-ah and Kim Min-hyuk. However, Park Jung-ah didn’t even bother sitting down. She continued her pondering.
“Now that I’m seeing you like this, I see that you have a factory a.s.sembly worker-like side.”
[TL: That was definitely not a compliment.]
Um…
I couldn’t talk back at what Kim Min-hyuk said.
Still, I thought this was a good sign.
When I met Park Jung-ah for the first time, I thought she was a cold robot devoid of emotion.
I thought that side of her was remarkable, but I found it appalling as well.
However, recently, that side had been toned down.
Her face became more expressive as well. She now had a smoother impression.
I could see that her att.i.tude toward dealing with people had changed a lot along with her predispositions.
Now, there were even posts on the community saying people thought Park Jung-ah became more human-like lately, along with comments noting that she was really unlike a human being before.
Certainly, she had been obsessive before because of what happened in the past and had been pushing everyone around her to be extremely vigilant along with her. Compared to those days, she has become a lot more relaxed.
She looked better, and it was also easier to be next to her.
I think the stubbornness she was demonstrating now is a part of this change.
If she was like before, she would not have bothered spending time on something like this.
She would not have insisted on this when there was someone waiting either.
She would not have made a big fuss about trying to find a form that would be useful for me either.
Also, I wondered if this was her personality before entering the Tutorial.
As I thought about that, I realized that I liked her stubbornness as well.
So, with a smile on my face, I could watch her going at it.
As I watched, it felt like watching a child putting up a serious face while playing with Legos. I thought she was adorable.
Of course, that was just my impression. As for Kim Min-hyuk, he saw the look on my face and was disgusted by it.
“I got it! How about this?”
What she proudly showed me was something that looked like a kabob skewer. It was about the length of my forearm.
“What is that? Barbeque kabob?”
Kim Min-hyuk joked around. Park Jung-ah gave him a light glare. She then handed me the kabob skewer.
“Here, near the handle, there is a part that’s slightly protruding. Inject mana there… like this.”
At that moment, the stick made pazizizic sound, and electric sparks flew off the tip of the kabab.
“What do you think?”
“I see it is some kind of electric shock instrument. I think it would be useful for self-defense. However, do you think this rascal would need this kind of self-defense weapon?”
From the side, Kim Min-hyuk gave his opinion about the form. However, I could not agree with him.
“This is the best!”
“Right? With this, you don’t need to worry about how to enhance your electric resistance skill! On top of that, by adjusting the mana, you can adjust its power.”
“This is perfect! It is what I needed the most. Thank you so much!”
“… Instead of self-defense, I never thought it would be for self-harm.”
I heard busy noise from the side, so I woke up. I opened my eyes, and it was Park Jung-ah. She was sitting at the edge of the bed and fiddling with a dagger.
Our eyes met and Park Jung-ah smiled with the dagger on her hand.
You frightened me, seriously.
I didn’t let her know how frightened I was. I pretended like I was fine and asked,
“What are you doing instead of sleeping?”
“Please catch the rest of the sleep. I’ll go to sleep after checking this out a little while longer. Ah, can you please let me borrow one of these until the tournament ends? I would like to find other forms until the tournament ends.”
It seemed she woke up in middle of the night and had been exploring other forms of the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms since.
“Why not. I would only be grateful. Still, don’t go staying up whole night playing with that. Didn’t you say you have a lot of work to do tomorrow?”
“Yes, but I’ll try it out just for a while longer and then go to sleep.”
It was the second day of the tournament. The individual matches’ main rounds were held this day.
It was not like the second preliminary matches where the opponents were selected at random. This time, the matches were in accordance to a match-up chart.
[PR: Think about a tournament bracket system.]
There were only four arenas with matches at any time during the main matches. So, the matches went on for the entire day although the number of partic.i.p.ants had been reduced significantly through the preliminaries.
My matches were during early in the morning. I won both matches with ease. Since then, I had been just watching the other matches from a spectator seat.
My next one won’t happen until the evening.
The mood at the spectator seats was relatively mediocre and light-hearted.
There was that incident yesterday, but it had been a day after all. Perhaps that’s why?
Although it was just one day, it was not like any other day in the Tutorial where people were either isolated in waiting rooms or inside stages. The challengers got to spend the day with the people they wanted to spend time with. I am sure that it was meaningful for them.
The matches were mostly peaceful.
I’m sure even the duels between honorable knights during medieval times were not this peaceful.
People were wielding weapons and attacking each other. However, everyone avoided fatal areas. Also, when people noticed their opponents were hurt pretty badly, they stopped fighting and asked if the opponents were all right.
They didn’t need to go that far.
“From their perspective, it is practically obvious why they are being careful.”
It was as Kim Min-hyuk said.
From all the way at the spectator seats, only select few could hear what the partic.i.p.ants were saying to each other.
Also, even those who could only do so by focusing on just one arena from all matches, and there were so many matches happening simultaneously during the preliminaries yesterday.
So, most people were not aware of the details behind why Lucas was executed yesterday.
“Still, won’t it be fine to tell people that we were certain Lucas was intentionally torturing his opponent?”
“It does not change the fact that we have no evidence. You and a few of the members of the Order heard what that b.a.s.t.a.r.d said. That’s all. It would be easier to just let it be like this. There is no need for us to explain our actions every time either. Actually, we shouldn’t.”
Kim Min-hyuk explained, and I decided to just let it be. I told him I understood.
“Oh, it looks like Lee Hyung-jin’s match is about to begin.”
“Where?”
Kim Min-hyuk pointed at an arena. There really was Lee Hyung-jin there.
It looked like the match was about to begin.
His opponent was… the Australian h.e.l.l Difficulty challenger.
Wow. This is a jackpot match.
They said that black guy was at the Sixth Floor in h.e.l.l Difficulty.
Lee Hyung-jin was still at the Fourth Floor.
“I think this will be fun.”
I wonder how strong the Sixth Floor’s challenger is?
If he just got there, then he won’t be very different from when he just cleared the Fifth Floor. If he was past the midpoint, then he is probably at a step higher than someone who is at a floor below the Fifth Floor.
Also, how will Lee Hyung-jin do against a challenger who is at a higher floor than his own?
Even if he loses, if it helps him discover his weaknesses and their possible improvements, those alone are big gains.
After waiting for a moment, the match begun. Lee Hyung-jin and the black guy started to move.
It seemed Kim Min-hyuk and I were not the only ones focusing on this match. Shouting exploded from the spectator seats.
It seemed there were quite a lot of people who were waiting for this match after seeing the match-up order on the chart.
I didn’t see the chart, so I didn’t know about this.
“Who do you think will win?”
“How should I know?”
I haphazardly ignored his question and focused on watching the match.
However, I didn’t focus on it for long.
The match went on for 10 minutes. Pa.s.sing that, it got to 30 minutes and then towards one hour. n.o.body from the spectator seats were paying attention to the match anymore.
“This is too much.”
“I know.”
It was too much.
Their duel was excessively cautious.
It was overwhelmingly unentertaining.
If the spectators were customers who paid, I’m sure people would have thrown water bottles at the arena by now.
Lee Hyung-jin and the black man only gazed up at each other and waited for the other side to make a mistake.
Like that, they just waited.
Occasionally, they glared at each other as if they were in a staring contest.
After that, they just waited again.
Occasionally, from outside of effective range, one side tried out an attack that might barely or might not reach the opponent.
After that, they just waited again.
Like that, the duel lasted for almost for an hour.
I don’t think it would be this bad even if Mayweather fought himself.
“If it is like this, can’t we just say Lee Hyung-jin is the winner by technicality? After all, he is from a lower floor.”
I am not sure. I wish that was the case too.
I couldn’t be sure if I could agree with him.
“From how I see it, it is not dragging along because Lee Hyung-jin is trying to hold his ground against an opponent who is stronger than him. It is just that their styles are too similar.”
Both of them were focused on speed and evasion.
Naturally, they both prefer evading attacks and throwing counters. So, neither side tried a real first attack against the other.
They just continued a battle of fighting spirit instead.
“Well… Um… Actually, it would be hard to survive in the h.e.l.l Difficulty unless the challenger has this kind of style. It could not be helped.”
“You are not like this though?”
“It would be cruel to compare them to me. Now, I think this match had turned into a battle of their pride where the side who runs out of patience and attack first loses. In fact, the one who attack first is very likely to be at a great disadvantage. I don’t think this will end until lunch time.”
I wanted to watch the match to the very end for Lee Hyung-jin’s sake. However, I am at my limit.
I took my eyes off from the arena. I opened my inventory and brought out the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’ll be doing?”
I formed the electric skewer with the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms. I brought the tip to my arm. A crackle of electricity burst into the air, and my skin got burned.
I didn’t let it bother me. I repeated poking my arm with it and releasing it from the arm.
Every time the kabab touched my skin, my arm shook lightly from the electric shock.
Blood leaked out from the wound, so I burned it by bringing the skewer’s tip to the wound area. Along with loud noise, a noxious puke-inducing smelling smoke oozed from my skin.
It formed a hardened scab from blood. I confirmed that it won’t cause more bleeding. So, I poked the same area with the kabab.
It seemed others saw me going at this. People started to stir around me. I could hear someone screaming.
What the… I’m the one in pain here. Why are you screaming instead?
“Ah, you lunatic. The foreigners are scared because of you. You had not been at this in a while. Why are you doing this again? Actually, of course you are at it. It is because Park Jung-ah showed you that form. Ugh, seriously.”
Kim Min-hyuk complained as if he had a say in the matter. It was not like he ever helped me to raise my resistance skills. I ignored the man.
Before this tournament ends, I’m really going to try earning the blitz resistance skill.
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