Chapter 32: Is your brother kim Yoo-won

“What’s going on?”

“Yu-won, I just got a message about a ranking match.”

Estelle kept her voice low, as did Liera, who refrained from calling me “honey.”

These small gestures eased my anxiety.

Seung-ah and Ha-yeon arrived while the other two were questioning me.

“Yu-won! What’s happening?”

“A duel already? As expected of a member of the Heavenly Demon Guard.”

Having lived in a world where duels were commonplace, only Ha-yeon seemed unconcerned.

Of course, her lack of worry stemmed from her trust in me.

She wouldn’t believe I could lose to a mere student.

Come to think of it, Jin Baek-ryong’s dorm was right next to mine. Wasn’t he interested in his master’s duel?

Ding

Shin-woo, being a guy, sent a casual text instead of coming in person.

-No idea what’s going on, but you’ll win, right? No need to worry, right? 

Yes, if he’d rushed over, fussing and worrying, I would have questioned his orientation.

-Yeah, 100% win. Bring popcorn. (emoji)

After replying to him, I addressed the others.

“Well… it just happened. He came to my dorm and picked a fight.”

I’d done nothing; he’d initiated it.

“There’s a seven-day grace period. Couldn’t you have postponed it?”

A sharp observation, as expected of Estelle, who knew the rules inside and out.

“There must have been a reason he couldn’t wait. Those close to Yu-won know he has a… short fuse sometimes.”

Liera countered with an equally sharp observation.

“Indeed. There’s only one thing that could provoke his anger.”

Ha-yeon nodded.

“He becomes… unreasonable when someone provokes him.”

Seung-ah, my childhood friend, knew me all too well.

They all knew me inside and out, like I was an open book. I sighed and told them what had happened.

“Wang Wei insulted you and challenged me to a duel. Ever since the Jin Baek-ryong incident, I’ve been having trouble controlling my anger, so I accepted.”

Recounting it made me angry again.

Was it because the suppressed emotions had finally found an outlet? I wasn’t exactly a rage monster, but when it came to anger, I felt like my old self.

The demonic Kim Yu-won, incinerating hypocritical righteous sect members.

The heroic Kim Yu-won, crushing the Demon King’s followers who betrayed humanity.

King Kim Yu-won, suppressing those who opposed my and Liera’s kingdom.

They were all connected by a single emotion: anger. Estelle grabbed my face.

“Get a hold of yourself, Yu-won. Did you forget what we agreed on?”

Before I’d acquired Clear Mind, Still Water, one of the Demon King’s commanders had sacrificed himself to curse me with a mental affliction.

Consumed by the demonic energy and the accumulated killing intent from countless battles, I’d gone on a rampage.

Estelle said I was more terrifying than the Demon King himself then, a monster driven solely by the desire to kill.

After three days and nights of fighting, with my party members desperately holding me back, Estelle finally managed to lift the curse. Moros, the party’s warrior, lost an arm in that fight.

I’d completely incinerated it with demonic lightning, making it impossible to reattach.

I’d cried then, apologizing profusely.

He’d told me not to cry, saying he’d gladly sacrifice an arm for a friend.

Though I couldn’t remember the emotions, I knew he was a good person.

I’d occasionally shown signs of that cursed state, and Estelle would always stop me, her hands on my face.

She’d said she never wanted to see that look again.

I thought it had vanished after 10 years of marriage, but it seemed the recent surge of emotions had reawakened it.

‘Since it was triggered by my own emotions, Unwavering and Unyielding didn’t block it.’

I suppressed my killing intent and calmed myself, focusing on maintaining inner peace.

I might have killed Wang Wei if I’d gone out there like that.

I stroked Estelle’s curly green hair. The soft texture was soothing.

“Good.”

She smiled, sensing my change in demeanor.

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

Liera asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Thankfully, she seemed to be handling the head-patting better now, without her usual mental breakdown.

It was good to see her maturing.

“No, I was just planning to cause a little… ‘accident’ involving his dantian.”

His main strength was Aura.

And I was an expert in dealing with Aura users.

I’d faced many in my second life, and they were commonplace in my third.

With no monsters in my third world, humans were my only opponents.

Crippling an Aura user’s dantian was easier than taking candy from a baby.

“Are you sure…? His family might retaliate.”

Seung-ah was worried about me. Knowing his personality, he’d definitely seek revenge if he lost the duel and his dantian.

“They can’t interfere within the academy, and I’m not that weak anymore.”

I could escape from any S-rank Hunter.

Or even defeat lower-ranked ones. My only concern was their potential retaliation against those I cared about.

My wives wouldn’t be able to escape an S-rank Hunter. But I had a solution.

I called Jin Su-hyeon.

-Yu-won! What’s up? Want to spar?

He jumped straight to sparring, a true addict. But his obsession would be beneficial to me.

“I have a favor to ask. In return, I’ll spar with you every Sunday.”

A 40-minute round trip and a 20-minute spar every Sunday was a small price to pay.

-Really? Anything. Just name it.

I could practically hear his excitement through the phone.

“I think I’m about to make an enemy of the Wang family. Could you protect the people around me?”

-Of cour… Wait, what?

He’d been about to agree before realizing what I’d said.

-What do you mean…?

“I’m going to cripple Wang Wei. His family might retaliate. I’m not worried about myself, but I don’t want them to harm those I care about.”

-Hmm… Give me a moment.

He needed time to consider.

If he refused, I’d just stay within the academy until I was strong enough to protect them myself.

Once I reached the Transformation Realm, I could protect them from any attack.

And at the Transcendent Realm, I could single-handedly wipe out the Wang family.

While a normal Transcendent Realm expert wouldn’t be able to destroy a top 10 family alone, I, with Primordial Giant, Lightning God’s Body, and Savior of the World, could definitely do it once I reached level 300.

-I’ll give you a number. Call them and try to resolve it. If that doesn’t work, I’ll intervene personally, using the full weight of my family’s influence.

He’d weighed his options – maintaining his relationship with the Wang family versus his connection with me – and chosen me.

He was willing to antagonize the Wang family to protect me.

“Okay. Thank you, Head Jin.”

-And call me “Uncle” instead of “Head Jin.” It sounds too formal, don’t you think?

He was willing to antagonize the Wang family for me; we were practically blood brothers.

Calling him “Uncle” was the least I could do.

“Yes, Uncle. I’ll try calling the number you gave me. I’ll call you back if it doesn’t work.”

-Alright.

“It seems to be resolved, for now. The head of the Jin family offered us his protection.”

If the call went well, I wouldn’t need his protection, but it wasn’t guaranteed, so I told them that for now.

“You’re already that close?”

Seung-ah knew I’d visited Jin Baek-ryong’s house on Saturday but hadn’t expected us to become so close so quickly.

“He needed something I could provide. That’s how the world works.”

I received the number and called it.

A woman answered.

-Hello?

A confident female voice.

It sounded familiar.

“Hello, this is Kim Yu-won. Head Jin gave me your number…”

‘He only gave me the number, not the name. How am I supposed to know who this is?’

-Ah, you’re Yu-won? It seems Uncle didn’t tell you my name.

She knew me.

“Yes, he just said you could help with the Wang Wei situation…”

-I’m Wang Mei, Wang Wei’s younger sister. Nice to meet you.

‘Wang Wei’s… sister?’

Why would he give me her number?