Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Stepping outside the main building of the Department of Martial Arts, Se-Hoon looked back at the building with a curious expression.

Getting asked to be his apprentice out of the blue was a bit of a surprise.

To Se-Hoon, it was unbelievable that Kwang-Soo—someone known for his high standards and said to even surpass Perfect Ones in pickiness—had asked him to be his apprentice. If it had been before the regression, Se-Hoon would have thought Kwang-Soo had gone senile.

I refused for now... but it’s not a bad offer.

One of Kwang-Soo’s Vision Sword Techniques, the Celestial Infinity Blade, was as powerful as the skills of Perfect Ones. But more importantly, Kwang-Soo had a strong force behind him—the Executioners. They were an unofficial organization, founded by none other than Kwang-Soo himself, that dedicated their whole lives to hunting down demons.

They helped me a few times before the regression.

Since the members of the Executioners were all over the world, their identities ranging from well-known high-ranking heroes to ordinary citizens, Se-Hoon could receive their help even in remote places, which was quite beneficial.

However, despite all that, he still refused Kwang-Soo’s offer because of one very simple reason.

“If you serve another master, wouldn’t that make me look incompetent? You’re not allowed to become someone else’s apprentice without my permission unless you want to die.”

His master’s warning was still fresh in his mind.

While he didn’t actually need to obey a warning made in the past, he still tried to avoid breaking the promise he had made to himself once.

Master... now that I think about it, she should be alive and well right now.

As the genius founder of the outrageous skill Soul Honing, Se-Hoon planned to visit her. Unfortunately, however, that didn’t seem possible anytime soon.

His master was probably busy running away from various organizations, constantly changing her identity, and wandering from place to place.

Well, there’s no rush.

Out of everyone, he was confident that his master wouldn’t end up dying a miserable death, no matter what kind of butterfly effect he might cause. Completely assured, he put the thoughts of his master aside for the moment and checked the skills he just acquired.

[Eyes of Clairvoyance] 『A』

[A technique for observing the mana in living beings.

The color of the observed mana changes according to the different properties of the mana inside the target. Prolonged activation can lead to vision degradation and hallucinations.

*Can observe the mana of living beings

*The greater the target’s skill is compared to the user, the greater the strain on the user’s eyes and mana consumption]

[Celestial Infinity Blade] 『S』

[A sword technique that shapes the processed mana within the body into a sword.

It uses all of the body’s strength to form a sword aura that is sharper and more powerful than ordinary sword auras.

*Additional effects have not yet been acquired

*Nature of the sword aura varies with the amount of mana consumed

*Physical fatigue accumulates with each cast]

They both seem quite useful.

The Eyes of Clairvoyance seemed perfect for finding the weak spots of enemies and accurately analyzing what equipment would suit each person best.

And while the Celestial Infinity Blade wasn’t fully mastered, carrying some uncertainties for actual combat, it was likely still powerful given its S-tier classification.

It seems like I got just what I needed right before the extermination practical.

With these two skills, he could pass the extermination practical trouble-free, scoring points and obtaining the hidden materials quite straightforwardly.

He was completely satisfied by how smoothly the situation was unfolding. But at that moment, he suddenly heard a clear voice.

“Hey!”

From afar, the clear voice hit his ears with a resounding impact.

He turned towards the source of the sound and saw the silver-haired Luize running toward him with a grim face and an ominous arrow made of mana floating above her.

“What the...”

“Come here.”

Before he could even properly respond, she grabbed his wrist and quickly dragged him away. She pulled him toward a back alley near the bus stop with a look of urgency on her face.

“What’s so urgent that you have to drag me to such a shady place?”

Finally letting go of his hand, she stared at him with sharp eyes. Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

“There’s a rumor saying that you picked a fight with Vier. Is it true?”

“I didn’t pick a fight with him. He had just lost his composure when I gave him some advice.”

“You... sigh.”

Seemingly troubled, she looked at him with a complex expression full of both annoyance and gratefulness. At that embarrassing reaction, the awkwardness between them increased.

Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?

Was there a reason for her to react so oddly to his fight with Vier? Pondering for a moment, he belatedly remembered the scar hidden behind the choker he had made for her.

“Don’t tell me... are you thinking that I fought Vier because of you?”

“What? Of course not... huh?”

Seeing Se-Hoon’s baffled face, Luize grew more and more flustered.

Amidst the awkward silence that settled between them, her eyes began to flicker wildly as she gradually came to an understanding of the entire situation.

“No. No, no, no, no. Do you think I’m crazy?? I was just worried that you might drag me into your mess. Do you even hear yourself? This is ridiculous...”

“Is that really it?”

“Yes! Why else would I come looking for you!” denied Luize vehemently, her voice raising in desperation.

Se-Hoon glanced at the arrow floating above her.

“You used incantation magic to track me, right?”

“...So what if I did.”

“Haven’t I told you before? Incantation Magic tends to be empowered by the clarity and intenseness of the caster’s intent.”

“Isn’t that the swordsmith workshop that nearly went bankrupt because of the Barmuths? What about it?”

“They’ve started mass producing new D-grade swords recently, and they’re supposedly pretty incredible. The fast movers are already in talks for contracts.”

“Really? But isn’t that market already dominated by the Barmuths... have they managed to forge something better?”

Currently, the Barmuths’ grip on the lower-grade mass-produced weapon industry was extremely firm. So, when various small to medium-sized workshops began to challenge their monopoly in this market all of a sudden, the people’s response to this news wasn’t very positive.

They trusted the well-regarded technical prowess of the Barmuths over the small workshops that were mostly in a state of decline.

“People are probably just hyping it up too much before the official product launch. How does it even make sense that a nearly bankrupt workshop would come up with something like that?”

“It’s probably just a claim that they can mass-produce some equipment that they handmade one by one; it’s not the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

With no solid proof, everyone remained skeptical.

Then, amidst all the skepticism, a certain video was uploaded to a famous global video platform.

D-grade Mass-Produced Longsword Comparison Mukbang (Eating it fr) Ryu Eun-Ha

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It was a peculiar video, its title promising a longsword comparison video in mukbang format. With the title alone, most would have dismissed it as simple clickbait, but when people noticed the channel’s name, everyone was caught off guard.

“Ryu Eun-Ha? Could it be the S-rank hero Ryu Eun-Ha...?”

“Maybe it’s an impersonation video? But then it would have been taken down immediately if that were the case...”

No one believed that Eun-Ha, known for shunning public appearances and rarely giving interviews, had uploaded a video on the internet. However, despite being extremely dubious, the setup was too intriguing for people to ignore, forcing many to click on the video out of curiosity.

The moment the video was played, the screen revealed a woman with red hair—it was actually Ryu Eun-Ha herself.

「Hello. I am Ryu Eun-Ha, the Dean of Borsippa at Babel Academy and an active S-rank hero.」

She was speaking in her usual impassive manner as she looked down at the dozens of different pieces of equipment laid out in front of her.

「Today, I will be comparing the most popular D-grade mass-produced longsword from the Barmuths to a newly released longsword.」

Giving only that brief introduction, she stepped off-screen to fetch two longswords and place them on the desk.

The weapons were unadorned, typical mass-produced equipment, but one of them caught the eye of the viewers due to its blade shining more brightly than the other.

「This is the Barmuths’ longsword, and the other one with a brighter blade is a new model from Carlton’s workshop. Now that the introduction is over, let’s get to eating.」

Holding up each sword in turn for the camera, she began with the Barmuths’ longsword, chewing on it starting from the tip.

Crunch, crunch.

In the blink of an eye, the longsword disappeared into her mouth and the tips of her hair flickered like flames.

「The charge rate is about one percent at level one. It’s fairly decent for a mass-produced weapon. It seems to be focused on durability, so the slicing force might be a bit lower, but its mana conductivity is commendable...」

Having consumed the entire longsword, she was able to analyze the weapon’s performance with accuracy rivaling that of experts and, in some aspects, even surpassing them.

「However, if the mana circuit is structured this way, its compatibility will decrease when infused with special kinds of mana, creating vulnerabilities. The most incompatible mana would undoubtedly be divine mana.」

Pausing to bring out another copy of the Barmuths’ sword, she took out a bead filled with divine mana and melted it into the interior of the longsword.

Closely showing the longsword glimmering with a soft golden hue to the camera, Eun-Ha then swiftly tapped a section of it with her fingertip.

Crack!

Without any resistance, the longsword snapped in half instantly. She then showed the cross-section of the sword and continued her explanation.

「As you can see, the internal mana circuit has been altered by the addition of divine mana. This is how its durability can be weakened, and also...」

Essentially dissecting the longsword, she continued her detailed explanation. Then, when she was done explaining, eight swords lay broken by her side.

「Now, I’ll try out this new longsword from Carlton’s workshop.」

Still speaking in her usual indifferent tone, she took the longsword and started to chew on it from its tip as well.

「...」

However, unlike how she had eaten the Barmuths’ swords without hesitation, she paused momentarily. Then, the corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.

「Indeed...」

With that murmur full of satisfaction, she resumed her expressionless demeanor and finished eating the remaining bits of the longsword.

Fwoosh!

When she got close to finishing the longsword, her hair flickered more intensely than when eating the Barmuths’ sword. She calmly said her explanation.

「The charge rate is about three percent at level one. This... should be the highest among D-grade mass-produced weapons. Both the durability and slicing force are excellent, about thirty percent better than the Barmuths’ longsword.」

「The mana conductivity is about ten percent better, and its compatibility, especially, seems to be remarkable. It shows little variance with different types of mana and can even accommodate divine mana...」

After that, Eun-Ha verified the new longsword with the exact same procedure used for the Barmuths’, and the results were outstanding in every aspect.

Having completed her explanation, she grasped both swords.

「With the general explanation concluded, I’ll do a final, simple cross-comparison.」

She spread her arms wide, with a sword in each hand, and swung them toward each other without any hesitation.

Clang!

Sparks flew as Barmuths’ longsword was cleanly sliced in half.

「That concludes this evaluation. Next time, I’ll review shields.」

The video ended abruptly, without any further explanation. And despite its lack of subtitles and editing, making it an unfriendly thirty-minute sequence, people couldn’t take their eyes off it for even a moment.

Not only was the sheer presence of the renowned S-rank hero Ryu Eun-Ha drawing, but the content of the video itself was very professional and impactful.

How did she manage to address such a controversial topic so directly...

This is definitely going viral.

For once, the S-rank hero recognized by numerous blacksmiths for her discerning eye for equipment, Ryu Eun-Ha made a review—something that used to always be shrouded in rumors—and publicly shared it.

As a result, the video spread with the speed and ferocity of flames across a dry field throughout the hero industry. And just one day after the video was uploaded—

Views: 9,282,146 Comments: 70,216

The entire hero industry was rocked by the ensuing controversy.