Chapter 111: The Thing Wriggling in the Depths (1)
It all began with an interview of the Communist Party of China’s Erfan Guild.
Q: Currently, you are on a 26 win streak without a loss. Ever since you defeated Cadet Yong Danbi two days ago, there have been rumours that you might perhaps be the strongest 1st grade cadet. Any thoughts on that?
A: It’s not just rumours.
One of the candidates for the top position of the competition, Zhou Luxun replied with a smile. Cadets of Erfan Guild standing nearby became flustered.
A cadet acting humble before the media was a widespread culture of Lair. But Zhou Luxun, who had always been acting modest, suddenly revealed his confidence during the interview without any hesitation.
Q: Is there an opposing cadet, whom you could say with confidence, that you would be able to win?
A: Could you ask the other way around please?
Q: Ahh, I see. In that case, is there a cadet who you think would be difficult to win against?
A: None. Yong household of Korea, Brzenk of United States, RIL of Russia and the Three Families of Japan… well, I saw all their videos but they were all quite boring.
Q: It’s good to see that you’re confident.
A: Honestly, I don’t think they’ll be able to pierce through my ‘Stronghold’.
[Stronghold Proclamation]
It was a blessing that had been at a shocking A- rank the moment it was awakened. The reason Zhou Luxun was called the greatest genius of Erfan was founded upon this blessing, which only belonged to him worldwide.
Inside that unique dimension, others would be attacked repeatedly, while Zhou Luxun can focus on defense and push the opponent into a quagmire.
A: Yong Taeha? I’m confident that I won’t get hit a single time by him.
Nearby cadets once again stole glances at Zhou Luxun with anxious eyes. Behind them were also Professor Ha Yoon being astonished as well as the guardian from Erfan Guild heaving a sigh.
Q: Any final words you would like to add?
Zhou Luxun took out a red string before snapping it into two.
That was the end of the interview.
After they were dismissed, Professor Ha Yoon urgently summoned Zhou Luxun and lectured him.
“Zhou Luxun, what are you doing! How can you be so rude when the world is watching you?”
“Professor. I’m tired of acting.”
“What?”
“I also want to say what I want.”
Despite wearing a frown, Ha Yoon tried to calmly persuade Zhou Luxun, but he remained stubborn. She sighed.
Judging from how Zhou Luxun said, ‘also’, Ha Yoon immediately realised who he was affected by.
[Official Sophia_RIL]
ты под наркотой? (Are you on drugs?)
After the interview, posts were uploaded by the angry cadets who had been insulted and called ‘boring’ by him.
[Official / Family Brzenk]
We are very displeased with the interview of one immature cadet. But that cadet can enjoy himself and indulge in himself for the next three months. The results will prove things ?
[Official Yong Taeha_Yong]
Acting big lol. Don’t get smacked.
[Official ?Yong Danbi_SweetRain_?]
Someone threw his manners down the drain haha.
Won’t say who. 凸
[Official Kimura(木村)]
Words cannot express this displeasure! ?`?′?
Such reactions of cadets were spread to internet forums, news articles and media platforms. After watching the sudden rudeness of Zhou Luxun and the anger of those who had been insulted by him, the onlookers began amusing themselves with imaginations of what would happen next.
– Isn’t snapping a red string implying something about Yu Yeorum?
– Remember how she said she would twist their heads lol. Zhou Luxun’s angry imo.
– Probably yeah. It was also silk, not just a normal string;; It’s the same as Yu Yeorum’s hair.
– Did Yu household say something about their official standpoint?
– They don’t have an SNS account.
But there weren’t any comments from Yu Yeorum or the Yu household for the next three days.
– What the heck lol. Are they scared?
– Why isn’t she saying anything back? It’s so frustrating.
– He downright snapped a red string and burned it. Does she have no pride or what…
Despite attacking others when they were quiet, she suddenly went quiet when others attacked back. Those that loved Yeorum’s straightforward approach were disappointed, while those that hated Yeorum criticised her for being a coward.
But after three days, everything turned upside down with one video.
[Urgent news!!!] Yu Yeorum vs Zhang Xueyan is finally here;;;!
A ranker candidate from Erfan Guild, Zhang Xueyan.
Her specialty was in gentle swordplay. Using a strange flow of mana, she focused on redirecting others’ attacks while looking for gaps. She was the type to defensively control the flow of battle.
She was someone that could aim for an extended fight of attrition against any opponent including professors, and had a favourable matchup especially against opponents like Yeorum who focused on aggressiveness.
Despite that, she was unable to fight after merely 5 seconds.
– ;; What the hell? What’s happening?
– Why can’t she dodge anything?? Wut? She’s just getting smacked..
– Dude they’re in a different league. Since when was Yu Yeorum this strong?
Yeorum used the pulsations of the dragon heart following [Karl-Gullakwa Stand-up Martial Art] to fluctuate and unstabilise mana in the surroundings. That ended up destroying the flow created by Zhang Xueyan.
Zhang Xueyan wasn’t Yeorum’s opponent.
It was in fact quite natural. Though others didn’t know, even when she was fighting Ling Ling, Yeorum had been hiding 70% of her strength until she was infuriated.
But the moment the victor had been decided, Yeorum began acting strange.
– ???
– ??;;;
The HP bar was almost gone to the point where a little jab would end the fight but Yeorum did not finish Zhang Xueyan, who was lying down on the ground. After crouching down, Yeorum placed her two hands on Zhang Xueyan’s forehead before suddenly bringing her lips to her forehead.
– What? Dafuk?
– ?? What’s she doing?
She then kissed with a loud chu ?.
Naturally her lips did not actually touch the forehead due to the barrier provided by the [Statue of Competition], and it was just the sound of the kiss that reverberated across.
– Why is she doing that??
– What the heck?
– Are those two in that sort of relationship?
After that, Yeorum wrote the alphabet ZL on Zhang Xueyan’s cheek with blood. Then, she slapped the remaining HP away.
As Zhang Xueyan soon scattered into light, Yeorum chortled and faced the camera with two middle fingers raised up.
– What the fuck lololol. Now I get it.
– She’s saying something to Zhou Luxun lolololol.
– Yeah kekekekek
– Actually crazy lol;;
– That’s a bit too much imo;
– Her personality though…
That was the end of the video.
…Because of that, Yu Jitae was summoned by the education department.
When he entered a conference room inside the education department, approximately six guardians and staff members welcomed Yu Jitae. They were all wearing serious expressions but couldn’t hide the look of intrigue flashing in their eyes.
A guardian from Erfan Guild, ‘Lyun’, showed his anger after Yu Jitae walked in.
“How could a cadet be so incorrectly educated, that they insult their opponent like that during a sparring session?”
Yu Jitae didn’t reply.
In fact, Yeorum asked Yu Jitae the moment Zhou Luxun’s overbearing interview came to an end. “Can I smack them and tease them if I meet one of the Erfans?” she asked and he allowed it, because she tended to feel happy from straightforwardness.
“Answer me, Guardian Yu Jitae!”
“…”
“Now, now. Lyun. Please calm down. First off, the purpose of this meeting is to decide on the punishment and action that should be taken on Cadet Yeorum.”
The meeting continued with one of the staff members blabbering and Lyun showing his fiery temper.
Yu Jitae listened to everything in silence.
He didn’t think much of Yeorum’s insult. As long as she enjoyed herself, it didn’t matter what happened to others.
On the other hand, if she did something that was against the general framework of the society, he was planning on letting her take responsibility for her actions for the most part. Yeorum insulted someone when she didn’t have to, so she should take accountability for her actions if that proved to be a problem.
So he was intending to accept the punishment as long as it was appropriate.
But surprisingly, there was a witness who stood on Yeorum’s side.
“Is it okay for me say something?”
“Ahh, Guardian Yong Chuljun. Yes, please do.”
“I think a punishment would be taking it too far.”
He was a guardian from the Yong household.
“I do agree with the fact that Cadet Yeorum did go too far, but we should still adhere to the regulations.”
“Look here, Guardian Yong Chuljun! Doesn’t Section 2 of the regulations clearly state that excessive swearing and violent language are prohibited!?”
“So did she swear excessively, or speak violently? I think she just returned what Cadet Zhou Luxun did by insulting her.”
“If she wanted to pay him back, why do it to Cadet Zhang Xueyan and not Zhou Luxun himself!”
“Well, group responsibility I guess.”
“Damn it. Are you standing on her side just because you’re both Koreans?”
“Be mindful of your words. My parents are Chinese,” stated Yong Chuljun indifferently.
Zhou Luxun’s interview had provoked a public outrage of the cadets so the guardians from a Japanese household and Russia’s RIL all showed their support for Yeorum.
Thus, the punishment was cancelled.
“…”
However, Yu Jitae wasn’t really fond of the current situation.
Guardians weren’t charity commissions or donors. They never helped others without anything benefiting them. Most of the old superhumans were veteran soldiers, and soldiers loved playing with numbers as much as businessmen did.
The Regressor could clearly see the things they wanted.
The next day when Yu Jitae was accompanying Yeorum, Yong Chuljun visited the lecture room with Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi.
“Uh?”
“Hukk…”
Since they were considered small celebrities even within Lair, the cadets that were still in the lecture room turned to them in surprise.
“Hello. This would be our first time having a chat like this. I’m Yong Chuljun.”
“I’m Yu Jitae.”
Yeorum gazed at Yu Jitae with an expression that read, ‘What’s wrong with these guys?’ but he shook his head.
“Cadet Yeorum. Nice to meet you.”
“…?”
“You guys, say hello as well.”
Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi gave light greetings despite the awkwardness.
“What brings a busy person like you here.”
“Ahh, yes. Let me go straight to the topic. If you haven’t decided on the members of the 4-man party yet for the raid, I was wondering if you would like to have Cadet Yeorum join the Yong household’s group.”
He was here because of the assignment performance that had been posted yesterday – the raid of B+ ranked underground fissure.
A maximum of 100 cadets were allowed to enter. With three days left till the day of the raid, cadets had to form a party that consisted of at least 4 members and register for it again.
According to his knowledge, all the cadets competing for the top positions had applied for the assignment. Since they had all gathered on one fertile land, the question now was how much piece of the land they could get.
That’s why they were asking to join hands but,
“Is there a written proposal for the raid already?”
There was something that was weighing on the Regressor’s mind.
“The proposal hasn’t been written yet. We were going to write it after the members were decided.”
“I’m curious how it would be roughly.”
“As always, we will be moving for the greatest benefit. In the shortest period of time, going for the most amount of kills and rewards. We can promise all that to Cadet Yeorum.”
“Points are given per individual contribution, if I remember right. How will the positions be formed?”
“It will probably be 2 front guards, 1 operator and 1 sharp shooter – if Cadet Yeorum joins us that is. And the front guard at the very front will be our Taeha as well, so there’s no need to worry about her safety.”
Up to here was a general explanation that sounded as if he were considering and worrying about Yeorum’s safety, but Yu Jitae focused more on the fact that the proposal hadn’t been written out yet.
“We will look through it optimistically if the four members are moving together and once the proposal is ready.”
In response to Yu Jitae’s words, Yong Chuljun’s eyes twitched. As he had thought, a household that focused heavily on the points and ranks of their cadets won’t ever give such a proposal out of a genuine goodwill.
“As you are probably aware, Guardian Yu Jitae, raids don’t always go the way we expect it to right? Sometimes the members might be forced to move separately and we can’t predetermine that right now.”
He made it sound humble and realistic, but sounded like an obvious excuse to Yu Jitae. Although the Regressor was still inexperienced with human relationships, he was very familiar with how humans acted before greed.
“If the original plan promotes individual movements of each of the positions, that would be troubling.”
“I do understand what you’re worrying about, but I can assure you that that would never happen.”
“As long as you’re focused on the shortest time span, most kills and rewards, positions might be discarded per their level of necessity. And if it’s outside, having a person die as bait might be an easier method to gather monsters.”
Hearing his words, Yong Chuljun laughed heartily and shook his head.
“Haha! I wish you would trust us a little bit more. Our Yong household isn’t a family that is so heartless and cruel.”
“In that case, can I ask something.”
“Of course.”
“Are you thinking of using Yeorum as a scapegoat?”
Yu Jitae blatantly asked him.
[Eyes of Equilibrium (SS)]
The seal of the demon archduke that discerned good and evil, authenticity and favourability was drawn over Yu Jitae’s eyes. True or false will be revealed depending on the thoughts of the opponent once he answered the question.
“…”
Yong Chuljun was a genius of the Yong household, currently ranked somewhere in 3 digits worldwide. He was a superhuman who would stand somewhere around the back if a hundred top ranking cadets from Korea were made to line up.
Although he couldn’t see the seal of the demon archduke, his instincts alerted him of something serious and made him close his mouth.
“…A question like that does make me feel slightly uncomfortable. I don’t know what makes you think of our Yong household the way you make it out to be.”
“I would like to hear the answer to the question first. Are you thinking of using Yeorum as a scapegoat?”
“…”
“You can just say no if you don’t.”
Cold beads of sweat travelled down Yong Chuljun’s forehead. A feeling that he should never reply to this question strongly controlled his lips.
“No no no. The word ‘scapegoat’ is a bit too overboard. I don’t understand why you’re being so blunt. Didn’t I help you just yesterday? I just want us both to do well as fellow Koreans.”
He somehow managed to gloss over it.
Yu Jitae remained silent for a bit. It was blatantly obvious to him that he was trying to use her while pretending otherwise.
“And, it is unpleasant to be treated like a criminal.”
“Are you here to play around?”
“…What?”
“Just reply to what I say. Stop going around in circles.”
“…!”
The sudden change in his attitude made Yong Chuljun speechless for a second. Startled, Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi looked back and forth between Yu Jitae and Yong Chuljun.
“Look, your word choice is a bit overboard don’t you think? You young, hot-blooded little friend.”
Unlike his bold words, Yong Chuljun wasn’t angry. To be exact, he was just unable to get angry.
For some reason, his anger cooled itself down on its own and it was a strange feeling for him who brazenly talked about everything he so desired to even the family head. It felt like a nail was poking into his stomach.
“I’m asking for the last time. Will you use her as a scapegoat?”