Chapter 75: Welcome to my homeground

Episode 75

“Ha!”

Yang Junggeun, who had been shocked by the sight of the arm regenerating, burst into a sneer at Kim Jin-sung’s words.

“You’re spewing nonsense! What do you think you can do now, when you couldn’t even counterattack properly during our joint assault?!”

Yang Junggeun’s voice was filled with confidence. Although Kim Jin-sung had recovered completely due to his regeneration ability, it was true that he had been severely injured, losing an arm in their joint attack.

“Go ahead, struggle all you want, you cocky brat! You think you can act tough just because you have regeneration powers? Let’s see if your arm can regenerate a hundred, no, a thousand more times after being cut off! Huh?!”

“Who knows?”

Kim Jin-sung responded without stopping his steps forward.

“But from now on, there’s no need to worry about getting cut.”

Kim Jin-sung suddenly dashed forward, heading straight towards Yang Junggeun at the center. Yang Junggeun immediately shouted to his teammates.

“He’s coming! Prepare for a joint atta…?!”

However, Yang Junggeun couldn’t finish his sentence. He could only stare ahead with an expression of disbelief. Kim Jin-sung, who had already closed the distance, was swinging a fist engulfed in dark energy.

‘How is he so fast…?!’

Thunk!

A dull sound echoed through the space. At the same time, Yang Junggeun, with his jaw twisted, flew backward, catching the attention of the others.

“!!”

“No way…!”

The others, startled, reflexively tried to use their attack skills. But Kim Jin-sung’s continuous attacks were faster than they anticipated.

Thud! Slash!

“Ugh!”

“Argh…!”

Kim Jin-sung knocked down Hwang Bo-Gyeong with his left hand and then spun his body to swing a dagger at Han Minsu. Before the two could even fall, Kim Jin-sung leaped towards Jang Hyung-tae at the back.

‘!!’

Jang Hyung-tae instinctively stretched out his hands, summoning a thick ice wall in front of him. Kim Jin-sung didn’t avoid it but instead punched through the ice wall, hitting Jang Hyung-tae in the abdomen.

“Ugh!!”

Jang Hyung-tae flew backward, trembling and retching violently. In an instant, Kim Jin-sung had taken down four people. The only one left was Im Sang-hoon, known for his strong defense.

“Hah!”

Im Sang-hoon rushed at Kim Jin-sung, determined not to give him any opening. Kim Jin-sung, who had quickly closed the distance, didn’t avoid Im Sang-hoon’s massive punch. As Im Sang-hoon’s fist came close, Kim Jin-sung grabbed his right arm with both hands and executed a throw.

Thud! The heavy sound echoed as Kim Jin-sung twisted Im Sang-hoon’s right arm with all his strength.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

A snapping sound accompanied Im Sang-hoon’s groan. He stood up quickly but stepped back, clutching his right arm in pain. It was clear to everyone that his right arm joint was dislocated.

“You’re just tough. If you don’t break, I’ll just twist and snap you.”

Kim Jin-sung said, looking at him.

“Next time, it will be your neck. Look forward to it.”

After saying this, Kim Jin-sung turned his head. He saw Yang Junggeun, who was staggering to his feet.

“You, you bastard…!”

Yang Junggeun growled through clenched teeth, but his eyes were trembling so much that even Kim Jin-sung, standing far away, could see it. Reading his expression, Kim Jin-sung spoke.

“You’re confused, right? Wondering how I suddenly got so strong.”

With no response from Yang Junggeun, Kim Jin-sung tapped the ground with his foot. Yang Junggeun’s gaze naturally shifted to the ground.

‘When did this happen…?’

The ground was now covered with dark mana waves. The black mana covering the entire space looked identical to the dark energy enveloping Kim Jin-sung. As Yang Junggeun looked around in confusion, Kim Jin-sung continued speaking.

“I spent a month of blood and sweat in the training room to create this environment.”

Kim Jin-sung then glanced at the notification window that appeared in front of him.

▶ Maximum output of dark energy achieved.

▶ Consumption of Beast Karma Points greatly accelerated.

▶ ‘Domain of Dark Energy’ created.

▶ Due to the ‘Demon Physique’ trait, all recovery speeds and stats are doubled.

The ‘Domain of Dark Energy’ was something Kim Jin-sung had poured immense effort into creating over a month. The point consumption was severe, so during practice, he had to use mana converted into fire attributes instead of dark energy. After intense efforts, he managed to create the ‘Flaming Domain’ just before the second preliminary round.

Once created, it was easy to adapt. Simply converting the fire attribute mana into dark energy would create the ‘Domain of Dark Energy.’

“Now, this is my home ground. Here, I’m twice as strong as usual.”

“…!”

Yang Junggeun’s eyes shook even more. If he was twice as strong, it meant that his abilities, which had been nerfed in this space, were now restored.

“How does it feel to unknowingly step into my home ground?”

“…Shut up!”

“It actually takes quite a bit of time to activate this. Thanks for dragging it out, thinking you had the advantage.”

Kim Jin-sung said with a leisurely smile, causing Yang Junggeun to tremble with bloodshot eyes.

“You, you…!!”

“Alright, now that you’ve seen everything, let’s end this quickly.”

Kim Jin-sung said as he rushed towards Yang Junggeun again.

“…!”

Yang Junggeun instinctively got up and took a defensive stance. Kim Jin-sung’s fist struck his raised forearms,

Crack!

Thud!

With the sound of bones breaking, Yang Junggeun’s jaw twisted again as he flew back. Kim Jin-sung’s punch had broken his left forearm and then landed on his jaw.

“…Ugh.”

Yang Junggeun, lying on the ground, squirmed in pain for a while, unable to get up.

“Wait there. I’ll deal with you last.”

Kim Jin-sung said coldly, turning to the remaining teammates. The others flinched as soon as their eyes met Kim Jin-sung’s. He addressed them.

“Choose. Fight me now, or go out and fight countless slime monsters.”

“…!”

The teammates exchanged quick glances before nodding. They looked at Kim Jin-sung with determined, fierce eyes.

‘Somehow, I will kill you here!’

Even if they escaped from Kim Jin-sung now, it would not be the end. They knew that after killing Yang Junggeun, Kim Jin-sung would escape from the subspace and attack them immediately. If they had to fight Kim Jin-sung eventually, it was the right decision to cooperate and try to defeat him here.

Seeing their determined expressions, Kim Jin-sung nodded approvingly.

“Good choice.”

“Hyaaah!”

Soon, Im Sang-hoon charged at him with a louder battle cry than ever before. The other seekers also took up attack stances and prepared to use their skills against Kim Jin-sung.

Kim Jin-sung dodged Im Sang-hoon’s charge by twisting his body to the right and reached out one hand toward his head.

“Uh…?”

Then, Im Sang-hoon started staggering. He had been hit with a confusion skill.

Kim Jin-sung moved behind the disoriented Im Sang-hoon, grabbed his head with both hands, and forcefully twisted it in one direction.

Crunch!

With a chilling sound, Im Sang-hoon’s head turned 180 degrees. He fell like a rotten log and did not move again. He was dead instantly.

“One down.”

Kim Jin-sung swiftly moved toward the remaining seekers. At the same time, the three seekers launched their skills at him.

Jang Hyung-tae fired numerous ice arrows. Hwang Bo-Gyeong unleashed a thick, fast laser beam. Han Minsu, with an abnormally large mouth, tried to suck in Kim Jin-sung with twice the usual suction power.

‘I’ll go toward Han Minsu.’

Without hesitation, Kim Jin-sung changed direction and ran toward Han Minsu, jumping slightly to let the suction pull him in. His speed increased, allowing him to naturally avoid Jang Hyung-tae and Hwang Bo-Gyeong’s attacks.

However, his speed was too fast. In an instant, he was right in front of Han Minsu’s wide-open mouth.

Gulp.

With a loud swallowing sound, Kim Jin-sung’s body went entirely inside Han Minsu.

“Huh?!”

“What? Did we defeat him?!”

Jang Hyung-tae and Hwang Bo-Gyeong shouted with hopeful expressions. But Han Minsu remained silent, standing still for over ten seconds.

“……?”

“…You, don’t tell me…!”

Sensing something was wrong, Jang Hyung-tae and Hwang Bo-Gyeong instinctively backed away. At that moment, blood started to trickle vertically from the top of Han Minsu’s head.

As the blood hit the ground with a splat, Han Minsu’s body split vertically in two.

“!!”

“Damn it…!!”

Jang Hyung-tae and Hwang Bo-Gyeong were horrified by Han Minsu’s split body.

“As expected, it feels really disgusting.”

Emerging from the corpse, Kim Jin-sung muttered with a displeased expression. Not a drop of blood was on him because his body was covered in a thin layer of demonic energy.

“I must avoid getting swallowed by anyone in the future.”

After finishing his soliloquy, Kim Jin-sung leapt again. This time, his target was Hwang Bo-Gyeong.

“Gasp…!”

Hwang Bo-Gyeong reflexively fired a laser at Kim Jin-sung, who created a demonic energy shield in front of him. The laser was blocked by the shield, but the problem started then.

With the shield in front, Kim Jin-sung continued charging toward Hwang Bo-Gyeong without slowing down.

“Wha…what?!”

Panicking, Hwang Bo-Gyeong retreated while continuing to fire the laser, eventually turning and running away. Suddenly, multiple objects shot up from the ground near Hwang Bo-Gyeong’s feet. They were black and resembled sharp spears.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The demonic spears pierced Hwang Bo-Gyeong’s body, immobilizing him.

“I told you, this is my home ground.”

Muttering to the corpse, Kim Jin-sung turned his gaze to the only one standing, Jang Hyung-tae. Always maintaining a calm demeanor, Jang Hyung-tae was now trembling in fear.

“I still have things to test.”

As soon as Kim Jin-sung finished speaking, the ground was suddenly covered in intense flames. By converting his mana to fire, the surrounding area transformed into a ‘flaming Space’.

“Ugh…!”

Jang Hyung-tae began to jump in place in agony. He tried to create an ice field to extinguish the flames around him, but the ice melted instantly.

Kim Jin-sung extended a hand toward him, and a massive fireball formed in his palm, flying toward the still-jumping Jang Hyung-tae.

“!!”

Jang Hyung-tae instinctively created an ice wall in front of him. The wall shattered with a loud bang, but he managed to avoid the fireball.

As Jang Hyung-tae sighed in relief, fire tentacles suddenly rose from the ground, wrapping around him and burning intensely.

“Aaargh…!!”

Jang Hyung-tae screamed in agony as he melted. Kim Jin-sung turned away.

“Now, only you are left…?”

Looking toward Yang Junggeun, Kim Jin-sung’s eyes widened. Yang Junggeun, who had been writhing in the corner, was nowhere to be seen. Kim Jin-sung chuckled as he understood the situation.

‘Did he run away alone?’

* * *

At that moment, Yang Junggeun was running at full speed in the opposite direction after escaping the subspace.

‘Foolish boy! I can freely enter and exit the subspace!’

The subspace magic circle skill wasn’t just effective for fighting enemies inside. By trapping the enemy inside, it could act as a prison, holding them indefinitely until the magic circle was broken.

‘You should have dealt with me first, idiot!’

Smiling triumphantly, Yang Junggeun kept running. By coincidence, the green slime monsters that should have been outside the subspace were nowhere to be seen. Whatever the reason, it was the perfect timing for his escape.

At that moment.

“Hey! It’s that green slime from this morning!”

“Don’t cut it with your sword! You have to make it burst somehow!”

From a distance, Yang Junggeun heard familiar, urgent voices. His face brightened further.

‘Reinforcements are here!’

The voices were unmistakably those of the seekers, including Lee Deokgu.