Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 98

Chapter 98: Special Training （6）

Min Yeong-gi’s plan.

It was very clever.

As Kang San showed a resilience that was hard to break, he separated the space and momentarily focused firepower on the rear.

If Yeon Woo-bin and Jo Han-byeol hadn’t trained for this kind of situation, they might have crumbled at that one attempt. It was definitely different from the first day. Now, as Kang San thought they were grasping the situation and making efficient judgments, he didn’t stubbornly stick to defense. The purpose of this training was not only the development of Kang San’s party but also to improve the abilities of Project B team, no matter what.

He changed his approach.

While blocking Han Eun-seong’s attack, he launched a surprise sword technique.

“Blood Demon Sword Technique, Second Style: Pursuit Kill.”

Whirrr!

Thwack━!

“Ugh.”

Han Eun-seong gritted his teeth.

The surprise attack, curving in like a snake, cut through a gap in his armor, scattering blood.

Kang San immediately kicked off the ground.

He heard Min Yeong-gi’s urgent shout from behind, but he didn’t look back, trusting his teammates.

“Going somewhere?”

“Chain Lightning.”

Crackle.

The Mages counterattacked.

Lee Su-chan immediately cast a quick spell, and bolts of electricity erupted from all directions, aiming for Kang San. Han Eun-seong, who had fallen to the ground, also gritted his teeth and jumped up. His wound wasn’t as deep as he thought, so he ran with all his might to stop Kang San.

Han Eun-seong shouted.

“Just hold on a little longer!”

A critical moment.

The atmosphere was tense.

They judged that if Lee Su-chan and the Mages could hold out a little longer, they could turn the tables and isolate Kang San.

But at that moment.

Han Eun-seong and Min Yeong-gi saw it.

Flash.

Flash, flash.

Lightning bolts exploding from all directions.

Kang San was weaving through that space.

Even though lightning was striking everywhere, making it impossible to predict the direction, Kang San was miraculously deflecting all the attacks. Jo Han-byeol was showing resilience against Min Yeong-gi’s attacks. Then, against an attack from a Tanker like Kang San, three Mages at full power should be overwhelming him, not just holding out.

But still.

Whoosh.

“……!”

Lee Su-chan had a dazed expression.

Despite unleashing a spell he had even memorized, Kang San had deflected all the magic and finally reached him.

That was.

Crack━!

The last scene Lee Su-chan remembered.

At first, he denied it.

Kang San is a Tanker.

It was hard to accept that three Mages had been defeated by the attack of a mere D-rank Tanker.

But one day, two days, three days.

Even though Han Eun-seong gave up attacking and focused on defending the rear, the outcome of the repeated battles was always the same.

“Lightning Spear.”

“Fire Lance.”

Crackle.

Whoosh!

Magic exploded from all directions.

Amidst the intertwined killing intent, Kang San accurately grasped the flow of life and death.

He weaved through the space filled with mana like a loach, and although Han Eun-seong blocked his path, the continuous attacks made it difficult to defend. The increased attack power from the Blood Demon Art. And stats that exceeded the average for C-rank. From the start, Han Eun-seong, a C-rank Tanker, was no easy opponent. As he was being toyed with by just one person, the moment a Mage was attacked, the formation inevitably crumbled.

It was devastating.

It was despairing.

With the repeated defeats, Min Yeong-gi even thought this.

‘Are we even qualified to remain as Cheonsang’s Project team with this level of skill?’

The opponent was 4 people.

It was despairing.

As people who believed they had talent, the despair from repeated defeats was significant.

But Jeong Hye-mi’s words, as she observed the training, changed their minds.

“Just think of him as an outlier.”

“……An outlier?”

“As you all know, I’ve experienced countless talents while leading Cheonsang’s team. But Kang San-nim’s abilities are not ordinary at all. He didn’t awaken his innate talent, and even after being stuck as an F-rank human shield for years, he’s growing at an incredible pace in just one year. Do you think it’s possible to dodge magic cast by three C-rank Mages? Or do you think his tanking ability to withstand that is reasonable? We might be witnessing the growth of a legendary figure who will be recorded as a Named in the future. And the skills of the people Kang San-nim brought as teammates are not to be underestimated either. So, just accept it.”

It was an honest assessment.

Jeong Hye-mi completely acknowledged Kang San and his party.

“If you achieve good results against them, you can definitely defeat Project A team.”

It was true.

Project A team’s Tanker.

Would he be able to hold out as well as Kang San?

No.

Project A team’s rear Dealers.

Would they be as organically intertwined and resilient as the combination of Jo Han-byeol, Yeon Woo-bin, and Jeong Chan-woo?

That’s also a no.

Then lastly.

Could Jo Dong-jae, representing Project A team, overwhelmingly crush B team’s rear Dealers like Kang San?

No matter how they thought about it, the answer to this was also no.

The more they recalled the past training sessions, the more they accepted that Kang San was an outlier. Kang San’s movements were at a high level, as if he was teaching a class. It was truly ridiculous. At first, they denied the results of Kang San’s party in the C-rank test. But now, they saw that it wasn’t luck but the result of genuine skill.

Accept reality.

Their thoughts changed.

They changed their mindset.

If they could stop Kang San, Jo Dong-jae would be easy.

If they could threaten Kang San, A team’s defense would be a piece of cake.

One week into training.

Project B team, including Min Yeong-gi, started to focus on what they could gain from this process rather than winning or losing.

Meanwhile.

Jeong Chan-hyeok, the team leader of Cheonsang, received a report from his subordinate.

“……Is this true?”

“Yes. It seems they’ve been repeatedly training against the people listed in the document for the past week.”

“Hmm.”

Jeong Chan-hyeok frowned.

Inside the document.

There were individuals who didn’t make sense.

『Kang San D-rank』

『Jo Han-byeol D-rank』

『Jeong Chan-woo D-rank』

『Yeon Woo-bin C-rank』

He didn’t know why Jeong Chan-woo was there, but based on their superficial ranks, they were absolutely not suitable training partners for Project B team. Moreover, their raid records were nothing special. Jo Han-byeol, Jeong Chan-woo, and Yeon Woo-bin had been active recently, but honestly, weren’t there plenty of people like that in Cheonsang?

‘What is she thinking?’

His only younger sister.

Jeong Hye-mi was a clever girl.

That’s why she was able to establish her own domain so quickly after joining Cheonsang, and from some point on, even Jeong Chan-hyeok felt a sense of crisis about his own position. So he intentionally created a negative perception. He emphasized that the Project teams’ performance was lacking, and that they needed to keep only one of the two.

It was a deliberate setup.

To remove Jeong Hye-mi from the competition, he had manipulated people to create the current situation.

“Team leader-nim. What should we do?”

The employee’s question was blatant.

It meant that he would sabotage them if Jeong Chan-hyeok wanted.

Jeong Chan-hyeok fell into thought.

Since Jeong Hye-mi was using Cheonsang’s training ground, it wasn’t easy to interfere with them, as their training situation was exposed. The CCTV and other elements in the training ground would leave evidence. And above all, from the moment he saw the list of their training partners, even the little bit of tension he had left disappeared.

“Just leave them alone. What’s going to change from training against those ragtag bunch?”

Project A team.

He trusted them.

In fact, to make this test appear fair on the surface, he hadn’t promoted Jo Dong-jae even though he had already met the requirements for B-rank. That way, there wouldn’t be any complaints. Jeong Chan-hyeok wanted a scenario where Min Yeong-gi would be overwhelmingly defeated when the two C-rank team leaders clashed.

Jeong Chan-hyeok sneered.

“If they do their best, Hye-mi will also accept that she no longer has a place here.”

Creak.

He leaned back in his chair.

He felt sorry for his sister, but he would show her how cruel society could be through this opportunity.

Fifteen days.

It wasn’t a long time to prepare for something.

The day arrived in a flash.

As it was an important project for Cheonsang, employees filled the audience seats, and on the stage, several people were busily moving around to prepare for the upcoming match. Whether it was Project A team or B team, the moment one team was decided through today’s match, Cheonsang would actively support that team to avoid criticism for their failure.

For the sake of the 10-year plan.

As the time for the match approached, Min Yeong-gi, who was spending time alone, received an unexpected visitor.

“Are you well prepared?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t give such a lukewarm response. You should have prepared well without a doubt. If you don’t want to be humiliated in front of so many people.”

The opponent sneered.

It was Jo Dong-jae, the team leader of A team.

Jo Dong-jae said.

“To be honest, I was a little surprised when I heard that you guys struggled in the C-rank test. We’re supposed to be on the same Project team, but to think that you guys couldn’t even handle that kind of test properly. It’s quite embarrassing as a member of Cheonsang, isn’t it? So for a while, I didn’t want to see you guys, but seeing the situation like this, I feel a bit sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Why? Because you’ll be disbanded as of today.”

It was a one-sided accusation.

Jo Dong-jae’s remarks, belittling B team, showed his confidence in winning today’s match.

That confidence wasn’t misplaced.

In reality, Project A team had shown more than B team, and they had passed the C-rank test early with overwhelming skill. As a team about to be promoted to B-rank, it was natural for them to look down on Project B team.

Normally, he would have reacted angrily to Jo Dong-jae’s accusations.

He knew it was his own inferiority complex, but in the past, it wasn’t easy to control his emotions.

But now.

Strangely, he found himself laughing.

As the corners of his lips curled up, Jo Dong-jae frowned.

“You’re laughing?”

“Because it’s funny. I have a question. What do you think is the most absolute standard for evaluating a Hunter?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s the rank, of course. It’s the standard set by the government and the most objective way to evaluate ability. In that sense, there’s an incomparable difference between you and us. We passed the C-rank test easily much earlier, while you guys barely passed the C-rank test not long ago. That’s why it was unexpected. I thought Team Leader Jeong Hye-mi would try to avoid this match somehow. Because the probability of you guys beating us in a public match is very slim.”

Jo Dong-jae’s words.

He admitted it.

Min Yeong-gi also had a time when he judged people by their rank.

The absolute evaluation that a lower rank could never beat a higher rank.

It wasn’t easy for him to truly accept the fact that there were details that couldn’t be evaluated by rank.

Now it was different.

The past fifteen days.

During that time, which could be considered short, Min Yeong-gi had experienced a different world.

He looked up at Jo Dong-jae.

Then he smirked.

“I used to think so too. That’s why I’m saying this, please do your best. I hope our victory won’t be tarnished by excuses like you lost because you were careless.”

A provocative statement.

Jo Dong-jae’s expression was horribly distorted.