Chapter 35: Found

“St-Stop… Stop hitting me…”

Death by a thousand cuts.

Or in this case, a thousand flicks.

Each blow too weak to register on the mana bracers.

But those weak blows, accumulating relentlessly, had left Wang Wei a mangled mess.

Even his 50+ Stamina couldn’t keep up with the damage.

The whimpers escaping his broken teeth were a far cry from the arrogant bully who’d tormented weaker students just days ago.

He’d completely lost the will to fight, flinching and cowering at the slightest movement, shielding his head with his arms.

Anyone watching would think I was the villain.

‘Well, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong.’

This incident might have ruined my chances of making friends at the academy.

Not that I needed any more friends besides those I already had.

I crouched down, facing the whimpering mess before me.

“Do you want to apologize now?”

“I… I’m sorry… I was wr…”

I hadn’t expected him to break this easily.

Seeing him like this made me feel a twinge of pity.

‘But still.’

“Too late.”

“Huh…?”

“You were probably counting on surviving the remaining five minutes.”

-But I have a little surprise for your dantian. The next time you use your energy, it’ll explode.

“N-No…!”

“Should have been nicer.”

Disrespecting others, bullying the weak, lacking basic decency.

Those alone disqualified him as a Hunter. But more importantly, he’d messed with my people.

“If I’m going to end up like this…”

He took a vial of clear liquid from his inventory.

‘Why does that feel familiar?’

The liquid emanated an energy I’d encountered recently. He opened the vial and was about to drink it.

‘Let him.’

It was likely some kind of doping agent. If he used it, I could beat him senseless without repercussions.

Even if it turned him into a monster, there were five people in this arena with S-rank or higher power, including Jin Baek-ryong and me.

We could easily contain him until the effects wore off.

Gulp. Gulp.

He swallowed the liquid.

“Ugh… Uhh…”

He groaned, his body swelling rapidly.

‘Is this really just doping?’

His expanding flesh filled the arena.

I shielded myself with an ice wall reinforced with lightning, blocking the encroaching mass.

It pressed against the arena’s barrier, then burst through it, continuing to expand.

“Aaaah!”

“Evacuate!”

Lower-ranked and non-combat students panicked and fled.

The instructors guided them towards the exits. Then, something caught my attention.

‘That’s… Ymir’s energy!’

The familiar energy from the vial, the same boundless power I’d encountered during the trial.

Fragments of that power emanated from the expanding flesh.

It coalesced, taking on a humanoid shape. Not a human, but a giant.

Smaller than the colossal Ymir, but still nearly 30 meters tall, a hulking figure with dense muscles.

His power, previously high-A-rank, had surged to peak S-rank.

It wasn’t just a size increase.

And the power of Ymir resonating within him… it was unmistakable.

Thump

A single step shook the arena, the ground trembling.

Heat radiated from him, raising the temperature around us.

““Yu-won!””

My companions called out to me, trying to approach, but I yelled at them.

“Stay back! It’s dangerous! …Not for me, but for you!”

Even if the giant intended to harm me, I wasn’t in danger. And the giant radiated no killing intent.

Only fear, awe, and… submission.

The giant took a step closer, knelt, and bowed its head.

[We greet the Primordial Giant.]

Words that defied even the Translation skill.

But I, possessing the Primordial Giant trait, understood.

Understanding didn’t mean comprehending the situation, though.

What was that liquid? How had it turned Wang Wei into a giant? Where, and from whom, had he obtained it? I had no answers.

Like when I received the Five Lives trait, it felt like someone was manipulating me from above, orchestrating Wang Wei’s transformation.

‘This is infuriating.’

I had a new objective.

To find the one who’d given Wang Wei that liquid.

A new goal, in addition to finding the being who’d given me Five Lives.

And for that, I needed to become even stronger.

I suddenly felt a gaze from the edge of the spectator stands. I looked, but saw nothing. Then, I spotted a sparrow.

My heightened senses were picking up even a sparrow’s gaze.

‘How am I going to explain this…’

The instructors, having finished evacuating the students, approached me.

“Kim Yu-won, what happened here?”

‘I have no fu*king idea.’

I wanted to ask them the same question.

“Found him.”

The man, having observed the arena as a sparrow, returned to his human form.

“Ymir. You refused even Thor, yet you bestowed your power upon a mere mortal on this backwater planet. Has time changed you? Or is this human truly exceptional?”

He tapped his forehead with his index finger, lost in thought.

“Indeed… this world is home to the one who killed my son, so it’s not surprising it’s a point of singularity. Giving him the Eitr was worth it. I’ve found Ymir’s successor.”

He’d given the Eitr, the source of Ymir’s creation and crafted by his son, to a human capable of containing the flames of Muspelheim, simply out of boredom.

He’d warned him to use it only when facing a mortal enemy, as it would irrevocably change him.

He’d hoped the resulting fire giant would bring chaos to the world.

Though that plan failed, it had led him to Ymir’s successor, making it a success in his eyes.

“Kh… Using my power will be difficult for a while.”

Parts of his body flickered translucently.

Even in this weakened state, having descended to this lower world inhabited by mortals, his power was still limited.

Interfering directly like this risked his own annihilation.

“I can only hope the seeds I’ve sown will bear fruit.”

Wang Wei wasn’t the only seed he’d planted.

He’d scattered them across the world and eagerly anticipated the chaos they would unleash.

“He sensed my gaze, so he should survive.”

The man transformed back into a sparrow and flew into the sky.

In the end, all I could tell the questioning instructors was, “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” and “I invoke my right to remain silent.”

Not literally, but I kept repeating the same sentiment.

How could I answer when I had no answers myself?

They questioned me about my relationship with Wang Wei.

I showed them the footage from the CCTV camera outside my dorm, which captured his insults and threats.

Apparently, top-ranked students had dedicated CCTV cameras monitoring their dorms.

Thankfully, there weren’t any inside.

The footage proved Wang Wei had initiated the conflict and that I hadn’t done anything to him beforehand.

He’d transformed after drinking the liquid, which I hadn’t given him.

Now, I needed to acquire the Taming skill to subdue the newly created fire giant.

A skill that allowed you to control monsters and store tamed monsters in a separate dimension.

Skill stones were incredibly expensive, and Taming, being a rare skill, cost 5 billion won.

‘Asking the Jin family for 5 billion won is a bit much.’

I already owed them a favor; asking for money on top of the Divine-grade elixir and the introduction to Wang Mei felt wrong.

I wasn’t that shameless.

‘Would Shin-woo have 5 billion won?’

His subscriber count had jumped from 200,000 to 500,000 thanks to his association with me, and his equipment was selling like hotcakes. His views had also increased drastically, so he might have that much.

As I pondered this, watching the giant, Wang Mei spoke.

“Do you need a Taming skill stone?”

How did she know?