episode_0052

“Alright, then the next match is….”

As I continued to watch the matches, I soon realized that there was something strange about the tournament bracket.

Whether it was intentional or not, if she kept winning, she would eventually face the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place contenders in order.

It seemed like a somewhat arbitrary bracket, but even so, it was odd that she remained silent while I voiced my objections on her behalf. And as the matches continued, it wasn’t long before her turn came again.

The 3rd son of the 4th place Geomgyui, Lee Suho, the 3rd place Matap’s Hong Shinhye, and the 2nd place Baek Hoyoung, whose origins were unknown, had all advanced to the round of 32 with impressive scores, overpowering others.

“The center of attention, her turn has come again! And the opponent who will face her is….”

And the person she was about to face in the next match was….

“I didn’t expect to meet you so soon….”

The third son of Geomgyui.

Geomgyui.

Who is Geomgyui?

Among hunters who wield swords, he is an S-rank hunter, essentially considered to be of a higher rank than that, the S-rank hunter closest to the hunter , which is essentially higher than S-rank.

Always in a rival relationship with Geomseong, people often say he is just below Geomseong in skill.

He had five children under his command, including a second daughter who may have inherited his talent in his prime, a first son with talent equal to his, and two sons and daughters who became B-rank hunters at a young age, slightly lacking compared to the two mentioned earlier.

“I won’t go down as easily as the fool who surrendered earlier.”

Although he may have been slightly lacking compared to the first son and second daughter, Hunter Lee Suho had carved out his own territory without any sense of inferiority.

“The third son of Geomgyui, Lee Suho!”

He was her opponent.

Of course, despite having such an opponent in front of her, Alia’s face showed no excitement, as if she had no room for it.

As the two stepped onto the arena, the referee looked at them and said, “Both of you, get ready…. Begin the match!”

As soon as the referee declared, Hunter Lee Suho dashed towards her.

The difference from the previous spearman was his speed, which was so fast that I could barely keep up with it.

=========

[Enhanced Sensory Nerves (E)]

=========

I had to use my abilities to keep up with his movements, barely able to follow them with my eyes.

Geomgyui’s swordsmanship was characterized by swiftly cutting down opponents at a speed so fast that it was impossible to follow with the naked eye, earning him the nickname “ghostly swordsman.”

His third son had pushed this fast speed to the extreme, allowing him to become a B-rank hunter.

People may have thought that in a world where even A-rank hunters were considered to have speeds comparable to or even surpassing that, the fight would be over in an instant. However, in a significantly slowed-down world, she calmly drew her sword and began to block his attacks swiftly without changing her expression.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Once could be a coincidence.

But if it repeated two or three times?

“!”

It was definitely not a coincidence….

With enhanced vision, I could see his facial expressions gradually hardening in real-time.

In the midst of the lightning-fast exchange, people initially couldn’t grasp what was happening, but soon realized that she was perfectly blocking his attacks.

“Oh, what’s going on here? Alia Valenstine is calmly blocking Lee Suho’s fierce attacks without flinching!”

And the commentator, as if in disbelief, continued to narrate their fight.

And the audience’s reactions were not much different….

“Wow…. Wait, does that make sense?”

“She’s blocking all of those attacks?”

“Wasn’t she a spirit user?”

Ignoring the bewildered reactions of the people around him, Lee Soo-ho, with an even more perplexed expression, halted his attack and distanced himself from her.

Then he asked her, “Aren’t you… a spirit user?”

She replied as if asking why he was stating the obvious, “I am a spirit user.”

“But then, your movements…?”

“Is there a law that says spirit users can’t use swords?”

There isn’t.

And that’s the problem.

“Heh. So you’re saying that while handling spirit magic, you also possess swordsmanship skills like that?”

And at her words, the third son of the sword ghost, showing signs of mental confusion in real-time, said, “Just learning swordsmanship like a spirit user…!”

And soon after, in response to his own words and his sword, she frowned and said, “What are you even talking about? Neither spirit nor swordsmanship is my main focus or a supplement. I am both a spirit user and a knight walking the path of the sword…”

“What.”

And he, the third son of the sword ghost, made an incredulous expression as if he had never thought of that.

Then, he furiously asked, “So you’re saying I’m being left behind by someone who is mediocre in both paths?”

Swoosh!

As if unable to accept it at all, he suddenly swung his sword towards her.

And she, naturally knowing where the sword would come from, lightly swung her sword to block his attack.

Clang!

Honestly, from the perspective of someone experiencing it for the first time, it’s understandable to lose your mind.

The sight of her anticipating his sword movements and cutting off his sword path before he could even swing it gives off a feeling as if she were possessed by a ghost.

She said to him, who was astonished, “Well, your speed is certainly fast, but your reaction and processing speed aren’t that quick, are they?”

“What are you even talking about…?”

“Well… what I mean is that I can see where and how you’re going to attack.”

“No, I mean, what are you even talking about…?”

In other words, her words were like this.

Although it’s a sufficiently fast speed, she surpasses that speed through preemptive combat and sees beyond it.

Even after saying that, it’s so absurd that you can’t help but burst into laughter, and even if you understand it correctly, her skill of making unconventional remarks that are difficult to follow is quite fitting.

“…So, what are you going to do next?”

Anyway, this time she decided to attack from her side, asking him while pointing her sword towards him, causing him to lose his composure and drop the tip of his sword as he admitted defeat.

“No, I will… admit defeat.”

No, but it’s not just about surrendering at this moment, it’s more about fundamentally breaking him…

I can only pray that we will continue to see him in the hunter society in the future.

After all, the fact that they possess skills beyond the norm doesn’t mean he lacks anything.

Anyway, when he admitted defeat, it was the judgment that declared her victory.

“Hunter Lee Soo-ho’s surrender declaration, therefore, Hunter Alia Valenstine’s victory!”

And at the same time, thunderous cheers began to ring out.

“Wow…”

“Whoa…”

“Wow…!”

At the same time, the actions of the guild officials behind me also became extremely busy.

“No, does it make sense that such a person has been unknown until now? How did they handle the tasks…?”

“No, did they just drop from the sky…?”

“If it’s about that hunter, I’ll find out every little detail!”

“So… wait? I found their Instagram address…”

“From the beginning, they were introduced as a sword user on Instagram…”

“Hey, if we had known about this earlier…”

“If we had known earlier…”

“Before their value goes up, they must come to our guild…”

“But, if they’re satisfied with us at this level…”

“So… wait? They’re originally from the Philippines? Was there no record of their activities before coming here?”

“없는….”

“Just try to find it properly.”

Well, after seeing that kind of scene all day, there wasn’t much excitement.

I just couldn’t help but think how amazing she was.

Slowly, it seemed like her presence on social media was confirmed, so I decided to check her SNS account, and it was in complete chaos.

Of course, there were some slightly offensive comments, but nothing too serious.

=========

[Look. It’s true because Unnie said so.]

ㄴ [Yeah…. It’s really….]

ㄴ [Yeah…. It’s really….]

ㄴ [It’s hard to believe there’s another lady who looks so stunning in Korea.]

ㄴ [Why not twins?]

=========

=========

[Oh, I really want to hug Unnie just once.]

ㄴ [Oh…. I’m also in line to see that.]

ㄴ [Unnie is a public figure….]

ㄴ [Me too. I want to hug her too. Then I guess I won’t have any wishes for the whole year.]

ㄴ [Just for this year?]

ㄴ [….Actually, it’s a lifelong wish.]

ㄴ [I cried so hard because I wanted to hug Unnie.]

=========

=========

“But Unnie is really delicious…. I mean, cool.”

ㄴ [Is that a typo?]

ㄴ [Doesn’t seem like it.]

ㄴ [She’s also delicious]

ㄴ [Oh, I feel like there might be chocolate abs under that shirt.]

=========

….It may sound like a dream-crushing statement, but she didn’t have chocolate abs.

Well, there’s no need to apologize. She was mine to begin with.

But with so many people evaluating her, it feels strange.

I think I also wanted to take her home.