I Picked Up the Hero and the Demon King - Chapter 53

53 – Past (6)

What do heroes usually do when they go to work?

Most people would think they were dispatched to exterminate villains, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.

There were also things I had to do in the office, such as paperwork and report writing.

Also, within the association, each team was treated differently.

Team 1 was in the highest position, so the welfare was good and it was possible to live comfortably.

Should I say that I take advantage of that?

Lee Seo-jin always went to work late and left work late.

Because I live like I live 24/7 at the training ground.

Also, it’s because fatigue builds up in the aftermath of training and I’m tired.

He was a person who acted with the sole intention of becoming stronger.

Of course, this behavior did not look very good.

Other teams disparaged Lee Seo-jin’s individual abilities along with jealousy of Team 1.

Even inside Team 1, they didn’t show much respect, but the atmosphere was slightly reluctant.

But no matter how you look at it, you just have to prove it through the results.

Still C rank.

Scheduled to be promoted to B rank soon, he has defeated more villains than anyone else.

Because there was a ridiculous fact that he did it alone and without any help.

No matter how bad it looks, it was very difficult to come out of my mouth.

In the first place, Lee Seojin wasn’t the type to be swayed by others’ notice or to care.

“Ha ha… Ha ha…”

A training ground like no other.

Lee Seo-jin was swinging a sword.

Innumerable wounds were visible on his body, which was sweaty and undressed.

Either residual wounds or fatal wounds.

He was proof that he had defeated the villains in the line of fire until now.

“After…”

Lee Seo-jin put down his sword for a while and took a breath.

Then she turned her gaze and looked at Han Soo-jung, who was not sure when she was there.

“Here you come. Maengkkong.”

“…My name isn’t Maengkkonggi?”

“I see. Well, let’s stop talking nonsense and talk about the main topic. I don’t like wasting time.”

Lee Seo-jin wiped his face with a towel placed nearby.

Is there something you want to say?

Or did he come with some resolution?

Unlike before, I thought that he made a big decision with his spleen expression.

“So have you thought about it?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s great. Then go and tell the team leader that you don’t intend to partner with me. Later I will—”

“No. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Lee Seo-jin was a little taken aback when the words stopped.

But he didn’t show it outwardly and asked in a puzzled way.

“…So what?”

“I have something else… to tell you.”

“What to say?”

“Yes. First of all…”

I wonder if these words were more important than I thought.

After taking a deep breath, Han Su-jeong looked directly at Lee Seo-jin and began to speak.

“Sorry before.”

The only thing I did from the start was an apology.

Lee Seo-jin asked, slightly displeased at her sincere apology as she bent down.

“…What are you sorry about?”

“I was overwhelmed with emotions, I couldn’t show my skills properly, I made mistakes, and I was angry with and disparaged my seniors in my heart. It was definitely my mistake. I’m sorry.”

“…”

Lee Seo-jin silently watched Han Su-jeong.

I didn’t like the way she lowered her head, but I couldn’t accept it.

That’s why I didn’t say anything, just gestured and answered.

Hurry up to end this situation and get things back to normal.

“Well. It’s okay. Wake up. There’s no need to apologize for that. If that’s all you have to say—”

“But there is something I would like to correct.”

“…What?”

Stop talking again.

This time, Lee Seo-jin had doubts at the more resolute voice.

Han Soo-jung slowly raised her head and looked directly at Lee Seo-jin.

“It’s not that I don’t have any skills, and it’s not that I haven’t tried. I hope you correct that.”

“…Ha. What is it? Was that after all?”

Lee Seo-jin snorted at her and shook her head slightly.

“You can’t admit that you don’t have enough skills, and you’re upset that I let you go? After all, it seems like a child is using it.”

“No. Not a swarm.”

“What if not a herd?”

At Lee Seo-jin’s question, Han Su-jeong took a deep breath.

She

She then pointed with her finger and exclaimed proudly.

“I request a match with my seniors!”

“…What?”

Lee Seo-jin, who was dumbfounded for a moment, became dumbfounded.

However, Sujeong Han continued to speak as if she would not give her a chance.

“Senpai will definitely think I’m incompetent, but I want to prove that I’m not. Besides, as long as I keep seeing her, I don’t want her to see me badly.”

“…What? So… What. You want to be acknowledged by me?”

“Yes. That’s right. Admit it.”

“… Ha.”

Lee Seo-jin, who let out her laughter, couldn’t figure it out at all.

She will naturally be recognized by other team members if she achieves results within the team anyway, so why bother?

She couldn’t believe she said a few harsh words, did she end up with evil?

I don’t know the details behind her, but whatever she was, she had a hunch that if she didn’t handle the situation properly, she would be greatly troubled.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. I’m not an examiner. Recognition or what… Yes. That was just advice at the time.”

“Even if it’s just advice, I want to be acknowledged by my seniors.”

“…What is it? Gaggy? Or pride?”

“Well, it would be nice to see it that way.”

“…That’s ridiculous. You think you’re going to beat me? Don’t you think I’ve never seen a guy like you?”

“I know. I’m going to lose. But even if I lose, I just want to let you know that I’m not that easy.”

“… Ha…”

Lee Seo-jin sighed as he thought that the work would not end easily.

Then, picking up her undressed top that was placed near her, she passed by her.

Han Su-jeong hurriedly turned around and tried to take out his words.

Rather than that, Lee Seo-jin spoke first indifferently.

“Follow me. Let’s stick together.”

※

9 O’clock in the morning at the training ground.

Because it was morning, there were only two people.

The two men who came to the arena immediately prepared.

Warming up, putting on goggles, thinking about strategy ahead.

Han Soo-jung was fully prepared.

Of course, Lee Seo-jin was just holding a wooden sword and watching.

“Tell me when you’re done. Let’s begin.”

“Yes. By the way… Is that wooden sword okay?”

“Why. Didn’t you think I would do it with a real sword? If you cut yourself like that, you’ll get seriously hurt.”

“No. It’s not…”

“Don’t do clumsy considerations when you don’t know about my ability. Don’t you know I can cut my ability? Rather, I didn’t know that word would come out when I saw it.”

“…”

.
The time he cut Sandman, whose body became a sandstorm, in an instant.

Han Soo-jeong remembered the sword attack that decided the game with just one shot.

Of course, I later found out that those types of attacks are weak against one-point breakthrough attacks.

Even so, being able to decide the match with one shot was proof that it was quite strong.

“Yes. I understand. Before that…”

“Why. Again.”

“Can I not wear armor?”

“Anyway, there is an automatic defense system in the arena, so even if you attack, you won’t take much damage. It’s a story when you did damage to me in the first place.”

Lee Seo-jin’s speed when seen through the vague sand wind.

That was definitely above the C rank.

Maybe A rank.

No. Han Soo-jung thought to herself that it might be faster than the S rank.

“I guess so. Then…”

“Ah. Why again?”

“…Don’t you wear a top?”

“It’s hot.”

“…Yes.”

Han Su-jeong was worried at heart since she came in without a top.

Moreover, watching the dozens of wounds on his muscular body as he followed behind.

But now is not the time to care about that, and I got him all over.

“I’m ready.”

“Start.”

At Lee Seo-jin’s words announcing the start, Han Su-jeong took a deep breath.

As soon as she finished, she summoned several summoned creatures made of flame.

“Birds, lions, dogs…were you the summoning type?”

“Okay. Let’s take a look.”

“…Yes. What. Come.”

“This time I won’t be as ugly as the last time!”

As soon as he said that, all summoned beasts rushed at Lee Seo-jin.

But casually, Lee Seo-jin swung his sword at the approaching summoned beasts.

Then she parted easily and disappeared, but suddenly I felt a strange feeling.

‘What is it? Ben’s touch… It’s strange.’

It feels different from what she has been cutting off her abilities so far.

But she was given no time to think.

The immediately scattered flames coalesced into one in an instant and became a huge lump of flame.

It attacked Lee Seo-jin as it was, and it burned as a fierce flame.

A powerful attack. Even so, Han Soo-jung did not lose sight of her tension.

Attack like this was useless to the man he had felt and seen.

“That’s not a bad attack.”

The wind blew.

Then the fierce flames died down in an instant.

There was Lee Seo-jin in perfect condition inside.

“…I didn’t know it wouldn’t work. What’s the alternative ability?”

“Manipulation of mana.”

“Yes?”

“It’s mana manipulation. Any superman can use it.”

“…If you don’t want to talk, just say no.”

“Well. You’re free to believe it or not, but I said it.”

Sujeong Han was dumbfounded.

As far as mana manipulation goes, it’s all about strengthening the physical ability.

Because that also corresponded to physical aspects such as strength and agility.

Because blocking the ability or destroying it was a completely different matter.

Thinking she was making fun of herself, she immediately went on the attack.

“Okay. We’ll figure that out later… Keep going!”

Dozens of arrows of fire appeared on Sujeong Han’s head.

In unison, they aimed at Lee Seo-jin, and she started flying at high speed.

‘Not bad.’

However, she could not reach Lee Seo-jin.

Because her nerves were strengthened by mana manipulation, the arrows flying at him were like a slow movie.

She was able to move according to her perception as long as she had strengthened her body accordingly.

Pababat!

Lee Seo-jin approached Han Soo-jung in an instant while avoiding her fast-flying arrows.

“What?!”

“It will hurt a little.”

As her distance narrowed, Lee Seo-jin lowered her sword and cut it.

But at that moment.

The Han Soo-jeong, which had been split in half, turned into flames and began to swell.

‘Alter?’

Puuong!!!

A big explosion occurred.

With the distance widened, Han Soo-jung watched the smoke from the explosion.

Since she was obviously aiming for a loophole, she thought there would be some damage.

On the one hand, she was a little worried about Lee Seo-jin, who was wearing her bare body without any protective gear.

But the worry was meaningless.

“…It’s okay. Attack power and speed.”

“If you say that, at least pretend to be sick.”

Lee Seo-jin, who crawled out of the smoke as if nothing had happened, was fine.

While watching, he raised his arm to show a slight wound.

“It hurts? Look. It’s a burn here.”

“It’s like being slightly scalded by a hot teacup.”

“Is that so?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Lee Seo-jin lowered his arm.

Then she warmed up her body lightly and praised Han Soo-jung.

“That’s true. It was a dangerous attack in real life.”

“…What is it all of a sudden. Praise?”

“I guess so.”

“… Ha.”

It was a blunt and insignificant compliment, but something filled Han Soo-jung’s heart.

That’s nothing but a subtle sense of accomplishment.

He didn’t know that, so he started attacking with a desire to get more.

“I’m going to go harder!”

“As much as you like.”

The flames began to gather in Han Soo-jung’s hands.

Soon, the flames grew out of control and a huge fireball was formed.

When the fireball was thrown to the ground, it turned into a huge straight wave based on where it was thrown and moved forward.

‘Strength is good… Although it only looks gorgeous.’

Lee Seo-jin took a pose.

He twisted his sword slightly as he watched the waves of flames approaching him.

And as soon as it came right in front of his eyes, he swung it.

Then, the waves of flame split horizontally in an instant, then lost their power and disappeared.

The number Han Soo-jung was aiming for was different.

“Haa!!!”

As the waves of flame dissipated, Han Su-jeong appeared.

Fireballs clumped together in both hands.

It was a dangerous attack to Lee Seo-jin if it was definitely hit with a zero-distance strike.

As if he had already figured it out, Lee Seo-jin immediately swung his sword at Han Su-jeong.

“Slow.”

The trail of the sword is Han Soo-jung’s both hands.

As soon as I cut down the mana and made her lose her ability, the intense blazing flames in both hands disappeared.

As all attacks were blocked in an instant, Han Soo-jung was defenseless.

“Kuh!”

But I didn’t give up and tried to attack right away.

“It’s over.”

Lee Seo-jin’s sword pointed at the side of his neck was announcing the end of the sparring.

“…Surrender.”

Han Soo-jeong sat down as if she couldn’t help it, raising both hands and making a surrender gesture.

“Haa. It’s not easy. What kind of ability do you have to destroy it so easily? I tried my best but I can’t reach it.”

“I told you. Mana manipulation.”

“…No. Then such a simple ability… It’s not even an ability. You destroyed all my attacks with your skills?”

“Yes.”

“Huh… that doesn’t really make sense.”

“Don’t worry. There’s no one like me anywhere, so I’ll be the only one fighting like this.”

“That’s true. I hope it’s unique.”

Han Soo-jung stuck out her mouth.

I expected to lose, but I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be able to attack like this.

Of course, the defense system was built within the arena, so measures were taken to prevent too much damage.

The opponent was not even wearing armor and was even taking off his top, so there was a certain sense of disappointment.

“Haa. Well. I can’t show you anything like this—”

At that time, when I felt like I couldn’t do anything, I felt a sense of disappointment.

Lee Seo-jin’s hand came up on top of Han Soo-jung’s head and stroked it briefly.

“Good job.”

“…Uh…?”

Sudden short stroking.

Han Soo-jung looked blankly at Lee Seo-jin as she placed her hand on her head.

“I think I was disappointed, but I also blocked it with all my might. If I fought the others, I might have already won.”

“…Is that Ching… Chan?”

“Yes. Why. Don’t you want to hear it?”

Then Han Sujeong shook her head vigorously.

“Ah. No! It’s just that I didn’t show you something…”

“I do have that feeling.

“Uh… um… I see.”

“And at the end, it’s dangerous, so don’t do it. There really shouldn’t be cases where a magic class closes the distance. Besides, you’re slow. If you’re going to do it, do it after you’re faster.”

“…I’ll try.”

From praise to advice.

It was blunt and expressionless, but that wasn’t the point.

It seemed like he couldn’t show anything, but maybe that wasn’t necessarily the case, which was important to Han Soo-jung right now.

“…So how was it?”

“What?”

“…Was I okay?”

“Hmm… It’s full of loopholes and there’s a flashy assortment on the outside, but…”

Lee Seo-jin glanced at Han Su-jeong while thinking.

A look that is strangely full of anticipation.

Usually, I wouldn’t have praised or said anything nice.

For some reason, I thought it would be okay.

“As you said, it’s not like I don’t have skills. I’ll get stronger if I improve while training.”

“…”

Han Soo-jung bowed her head in silence.

Until yesterday, it was frustrating and annoying, but now it’s cool as if it’s open.

It was not a clear recognition.

However, it was quite enjoyable for her to be recognized by a powerful person who looked down on her.

It’s even more so when you receive it from someone you want to be acknowledged for.

“I’m coming.”

At some point, Sujeong Han came to her senses at the words of Seojin Lee, who was walking with her back turned.

After hastily getting up, she spoke cautiously to her.

“Uh… senior?”

“Why. Anything else to say?”

“Yeah… that partner… I was wondering what you think.”

“…”

When Han Soo-jung called, Lee Seo-jin, who glanced back at her, paused for a moment and spoke to her in a low voice.

“…Do as you please.”

With those words, Lee Seo-jin left the training ground.

Looking at the place she had left in a daze, Sujeong Han had a lot of thoughts.

However, she could clearly understand one thing in the midst of her complicated state of mind.

.
And the fact that her heart was rising.

The point was that I didn’t hate that blunt and bad-tempered man.

‘… Put on some clothes and go.’

And also the fact that there was a top-dressing that kept bothering me.