Chapter 86
Chapter 86. Oppa, Isn’t This Cheating?
Though it remained premature to make an absolute judgment, Minjun’s handling of the sudden Gate Break was proceeding with astonishing ease.
The goblins posed a threat mainly due to their sheer numbers rather than their individual strength, yet an initial wave of Minjun’s Dragon Fear had already incapacitated the majority of them. Because of that swift suppression, he was spared from expending pointless energy on insignificant pests.
Nevertheless, the genuine trial was only just starting to unfold.
The front line of orcs pressed forward to narrow the encirclement, while the goblin shamans in the back were actively preparing their magical incantations. Those specific adversaries were the primary reason this Gate Break carried such an alarming hazard rating.
‘I ought to take down those goblin shamans before anything else.’
Instead of obstinately battering himself against the vanguard’s wall of shields and muscle, breaking the linchpin that held the enemy’s structure together made far more strategic sense. In the current setup, that meant neutralizing the spellcasters.
‘Crushing them first should shatter their fighting spirit far faster as well.’
Determined to eliminate the spellcasters stationed at the back, Minjun finalized his assessment in an instant and dashed straight into the thick of the hostile ranks with his weapon drawn.
Plunging into their midst, he delivered a sweeping slash with his sword. The luminous energy radiating from the steel fractured outward in all directions, shearing through the approaching orcs with absolute, cold precision.
A few beasts managed to dodge the opening blow, striking back at him from blind spots, while the rear shamans unleased a dense cloud of hexes so thick it seemed to warp the surrounding atmosphere.
Even amidst that chaotic vortex, Minjun preserved total composure. To his senses, these assaults carried none of the mortal peril he had initially anticipated. It was possible that his own capabilities had surged to a new peak, or perhaps the enchanted protective gear and accessories provided by Sia were fending off the damage—or maybe both advantages were working in tandem.
Whatever the fundamental cause, Minjun wove unimpeded through the hostile ranks, practically impervious to the curses hurled by the goblin shamans.
Off to the side, Sia watched the spectacle in stunned awe.
It had not been long at all since Minjun was still categorized as a B-rank Hunter. Yet right before her eyes, he was effortlessly carving a bloody highway through orcs that held that very same B-rank designation.
Framed against the horizon where twilight bled into dusk, Minjun plunged boldly into the dense horde, scattering a radiant luminescence that captured the tranquil depth of the nighttime heavens. It possessed all the cinematic grandeur of a high-budget action sequence.
No, an artificial film could never match the visceral, pounding exhilaration of this real spectacle.
For several minutes, Sia lost all awareness that this outing had begun as a romantic date, and that the ticking clock left them with barely any moments before they would need to part ways again. She remained entirely entranced by the lethal elegance on display.
By that point, Minjun had pulverized the orcs’ defensive ranks, reaching the far edge of the shore where the goblin shamans stood huddled.
Terrified by his unstoppable drive, the spellcasters froze and scrambled backward, but the endless expanse of the sea blocked their retreat, leaving them trapped without an exit.
Krrk! Krrrraaaak!
Chattering in high-pitched squawks as if frantically concocting a backup strategy, the goblin shamans suddenly shifted the focus of their sorcery directly onto the orcs.
Having spent the earlier moments trying to weaken Minjun, only to realize their curses had practically zero effect against his defenses, they had no alternative but to alter their approach.
Krrrraaaak!
Infused with wild sorcery, the orcs surged toward Minjun in a unified frenzy. The magic magnified their physical might while imposing a light mental enthrallment, wiping away the terror of Minjun’s previous display and driving them into an unthinking assault.
The wild frenzy in their eyes proved their minds were no longer their own, yet Minjun stayed completely unfazed.
Even reinforced by enchantments, a B-rank creature remained fundamentally capped at B-rank status. No measure of blind fury could bridge the massive chasm between them and the man Minjun had become.
“Time to wrap this up.”
Lengthening his stride, Minjun unleashed another sweeping strike. The radiant energy bursting from his blade snapped outward like an elongated lash, etching thin trails of crimson across the clustered shamans.
SKREEEEEE!
In a fraction of a second, the vast majority of the magic users hit the sand, dead. Minjun pivoted immediately to face the oncoming swarm of berserk orcs.
Even with their primary masters slain, the unnatural frenzy controlling the orcs failed to dissipate. Roaring at the top of their lungs, they hurled themselves forward without the faintest hint of self-preservation.
Folks often remarked that ignorance fostered false bravery, but these beasts were far from brave; they were simply driven by mindless insanity, pure and simple.
With his radiating shroud growing noticeably denser and more vibrant than when the clash had commenced, Minjun systematically dismantled every charging orc.
Even observing from her safe vantage point, Sia recognized the evolution. Within mere moments, Minjun’s surrounding energy had grown remarkably richer, sharper, and mesmerizingly refined.
As his martial manifestation deepened in majesty, the total ruin of the invading horde grew completely undeniable.
Completely relieved of any lingering worry that Minjun might suffer harm, Sia unthinkingly reached into her bag for her smartphone, focusing the lens on him as he danced through combat wrapped in that impossible radiance.
“Oppa, you look ridiculously cool right now…”
In that breathless instant, Sia’s heart was thoroughly captivated by him.
With the spellcasters already obliterated, not a single foe on the beach held the capacity to impede Minjun’s march. Although their lingering numbers were still too vast to be dismissed as mere stragglers, each beast dropped like dry foliage in a gale, failing to withstand even a solitary direct stroke.
Only after he methodically eliminated the incapacitated goblins still paralyzed by Dragon Fear did Minjun finally sheathe his weapon.
The coast’s pristine grains were now thoroughly drenched in dark ichor spilled by the unwelcome invaders from the dimensional tear.
“Haa…”
When the rift first split open and disgorged the monsters, Minjun had trusted in his chances of survival. Nevertheless, neither he nor Sia could have foretold that the gulf in capability would turn out to be this vast.
‘Could it be that my strength has grown beyond my own reckoning?’
It seemed plausible that his current level even surpassed how he had performed during his training duel against Rokan right after returning to Earth. Lacking that explanation, making sense of this effortless slaughter was nearly impossible.
Regulating his breath, Minjun glanced down at the time. The skirmish had concluded far more rapidly than expected, yet less than five minutes remained before the strict cutoff that permitted them to be near one another.
“Oppa!”
Sia, who had continued recording right beside the boundary line, dashed straight into his space and leaped into his embrace. Minjun instinctively stepped back half a pace to keep the gore staining his garments from dirtying hers, but she showed zero concern for the mess.
Clinging to him tightly, she wove a silent strand of magic that stripped every speck of monster blood from his form and attire within a heartbeat.
“You looked breathtaking out there, Oppa! Honestly, I believed you’d pull it off, but I never imagined you’d wipe them out with such absolute perfection—and look so magnificent the entire time…!”
The residual rush of the clash had clearly not settled, causing her sentences to tumble out in a breathless, overlapping rush.
Yet glancing down at the time, she abruptly remembered that the moment to bid him farewell had already arrived.
Warm joy clashed against heavy sorrow within her chest. She yearned desperately for just a bit more time, wanting nothing more than to linger under the nighttime sky of Jeju alongside him and share quiet words until morning dawned.
There was still an endless list of thoughts she wanted to express, not to mention her desire to sit across from him over a wonderful evening meal.
Minjun clearly perceived the profound sorrow shimmering across Sia’s face. He shared that very same heartache, yet beneath the sadness, the day provided a quiet sense of fulfillment.
Only days prior, the lingering scars of her past trauma had made Sia terrified of meeting him face-to-face. Now, she appeared to have moved past a meaningful portion of that pain, steadily turning back into the bright companion he held in his memories.
Connecting without the necessity of spoken explanations, the two clasped hands and locked eyes in gentle understanding.
“Sia, barring any unforeseen emergencies, let’s meet up again in seven days.”
“Yes! Without fail!”
The reality of enduring another full week in isolation pushed tears to the edge of Sia’s lashes, but she swallowed the ache down and managed a bright grin.
“I’ll take care of tidying up this area, so hurry back to your room and get some real sleep. You pushed yourself so hard today.”
“Likewise. Today was genuinely incredible, and you worked just as hard. I’ll count on you to handle the cleanup.”
Before their parting, Sia leaned up to press a tender kiss against his cheek. Manipulating spatial magic, she instantly sent Minjun straight to his quarters, leaving herself alone on the blood-soaked shore where the violent clash had ended only moments prior.
The pristine coastline that had seemed so idyllic an hour ago was now marred by severed carcasses and dark gore courtesy of the untimely Gate Break. Thick rivulets of monster blood had seeped right down to the breaking surf, painting the clear water an unsightly crimson.
Her optical barrier prevented anyone outside from catching wind of the carnage, but abandoning the site without restoration would undoubtedly trigger widespread panic.
Invoking the power of Dragon Tongue, Sia erased every trace of gore, restoring the seaside sand to its untouched state. With the stains vanished, she gathered the piles of dead monsters into an orderly mound off to one side to make sorting them simpler.
‘All that remains is deciding how to manage these bodies.’
Had these carcasses belonged to wyverns, the value would have justified extra effort, but baseline goblin and orc remains fetched relatively modest sums. Ordinarily, Sia would have reduced the entire mound to ash without a second thought.
Yet a sudden realization checked her hand before she could cast the flames.
‘Every single one of these beasts fell to Oppa’s blade.’
Because of that fact, the rightful claim over the spoils and biological parts belonged entirely to Minjun. Had the kills been hers, she would have burned the heap without hesitation, but she felt strongly that his labor warranted proper financial compensation.
She resolved to quietly liquidate the materials on her own and transfer the earnings directly into his possession.
Naturally, her official public persona remained that of an unassuming D-rank Hunter. Showing up to barter high volumes of harvested parts that spanned C-rank up through A-rank would inevitably invite suspicion, meaning she would have to route the sale through private channels.
After depositing the harvested corpses safely into an extradimensional pocket and polishing off the remaining traces, Sia dispersed the concealing barrier.
“Whew, all done.”
Looking upward upon concluding her tasks, she noticed the lunar crest had already climbed high into the evening dome.
Rather than teleporting straight back to her private sanctum, Sia chose to wander along the shoreline for a little while, keen on savoring the lingering warmth of the hours she had shared beside Minjun.
‘Walking down this path hand-in-hand with Oppa would have been perfection.’
Following a brief walk along the sand, she settled down onto a quiet bench, casting her gaze upward toward the stars. The hour had grown exceptionally late, and given that this particular beach was obscure, no other wanderers were around.
Gazing quietly over the dark surface of the sea, Sia fished her device from her pocket and started reviewing the collection of pictures they had taken together throughout the afternoon.
She scrolled across the screen at a leisurely pace, vividly recalling the circumstances surrounding every single snapshot. Merely replaying those brief fragments in her mind made a soft smile curve her lips.
Possessing a memory that retained everything could occasionally feel like an unbearable burden, yet during moments like this, it manifested as an extraordinary blessing.
The present day stood as definitive proof. Even when a century drifted by, or an entire millennium passed, she would effortlessly recall the unblemished joy of this afternoon with crystalline perfection.
After taking in every photograph, Sia at last opened the final video clip captured during the day: the sequence showing Minjun single-handedly conquering the entire Gate Break.
Across the glowing glass, Minjun commanded the field all by himself, bathing the sand in the ethereal glow of his distinctive aura.
The small recording could hardly recreate the staggering, breathtaking rush she had experienced witnessing the real spectacle, yet the playback was still more than potent enough to send a pleasant shiver racing along her skin.
Long after the playback reached its conclusion, Sia remained fixed on the dimmed glass with an enchanted gaze.
“My Oppa isn’t merely handsome on the surface. His sword technique is magnificent, and even the aura he manifests looks stunning. Isn’t this fundamentally unfair to everyone else?”
Abandoning all urgency to retreat back to her lair, she simply looped the footage repeatedly, entirely spellbound by the recording.
Right up until slumber finally claimed her for the night, the image of Minjun wielding his blade under a light that echoed the starlit expanse of the night sky refused to depart from Sia’s thoughts.
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