〈 Chapter 144 〉 The Story After the 4th Round.
*
“Hey guys! I won—”
BANG!*
I returned to the bench hoping for some comfort, but all I got was a chilling gunshot.
Thanks to Hyeji’s surprise attack, I was crawling on the ground, bleeding from my right thigh.
“…You could at least warn me before shooting.”
“I told you I’d shoot you, didn’t I?”
Hyeji was aiming a smoking handgun at me.
“Spit it out, Shinwoo.”
“Yes.”
“Are you unhappy about my flat chest?”
Hyeji asked with an unusual seriousness.
Her expression looked frightening, but there was tension in her eyes.
The more tense it got, the more I needed to comfort her.
“No, not at all. It’s perfectly fine.”
“R-Really?”
Suddenly, Hyeji lowered the gun and seemed to be in a better mood, humming happily.
“Well then… I might just let it slide.”
“You know, being confident even with no boobs is a great thing.”
“…That’s true, right?”
“It’s wrong to hide behind some fake boobs.”
“Yeah… right.”
Hyeji reluctantly agreed with my words.
To lighten her mood, I spoke again.
“I’m serious. Besides, you always give off a stable and comfortable vibe.”
“Really? In what way do I make you feel comfortable? Be honest!”
Hyeji suddenly brightened up, stepped closer, grabbed my shoulder, and looked into my eyes.
Her eyes were filled with eager expectations for an answer.
I spoke honestly to meet her expectations.
“It’s your unwavering comfort.”
BANG!
“……You said to be honest.”
This time, I was bleeding from my left thigh.
As Hyeji aimed at me again, the professor quickly intervened.
【Hyeji! Stop this right now! Shinwoo is injured!】
“Cough, damn it, thank you, professor!”
Hyeji glared at the professor, demanding answers.
The professor replied firmly,
【Treat him with a potion and shoot him again.】
“You bastard.”
A student who had come up suddenly poured a potion on my thigh to heal my gunshot wound.
As soon as the injury was healed, Hyeji cocked her gun at me again.
“Die.”
Getting shot, healing, and getting shot again became a repetitive cycle.
Maybe tired from shooting, Hyeji turned and left without looking back.
Seeing this, Piece spoke to me.
[Idiot.]
‘F*ck.’
While I was treating my wound with another potion, Jeong Ahyeon was chatting with Jeong Bia, looking intently at her.
“The goods won.”
“Yeah.”
“You kept your promise.”
“……I’ll talk to them.”
Then, Jeong Ahyeon immediately turned to speak to Spencer.
Spencer seemed dazed, still unable to collect herself.
“Don’t get involved with her ever again.”
After that, Jeong Ahyeon left with a somewhat relieved expression, exiting the sparring ground.
On the other hand, Elcia looked at me with a disapproving expression, then smiled.
“Garbage husband! Don’t come within 2 meters of me today!”
“No, come on, I only landed the last hit.”
“But…”
Elcia turned her back to me but glanced over her shoulder.
“Please stay at least 4 meters away!”
“Darius? You’re really good at blood sucking.”
“I’m Aousol!”
With countless insults on my back, I left the sparring ground.
Settling Hyeji’s mood took priority over watching the match.
*
After calming Hyeji down and returning to the dormitory, it was already late at night.
There was a delivery box in front of the dorm door.
The sender was none other than Mr. Ryu Kang-hyuk.
[Could this be the item you couldn’t find last time?]
‘Oh, that did happen.’
I started to open the box, wondering what kind of gift it could be.
I felt like I had received an unexpected Christmas present.
Then what came out of the box was none other than…
“I really should kill this bastard.”
It was a bunch of candy wrappers and already used condoms.
They were neatly arranged in a rainbow color, showing how much care was taken in the wrapping.
I immediately called Mr. Ryu Kang-hyuk, and after a few rings, he picked up.
“Why.”
“You seriously want to die?”
“Ah, did you see it?”
I could hear him snickering on the other end.
“WTF? You wrapped this and sent it, you bastard.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Some people can’t even get laid!”
“Anyway, clean that up and check under the box.”
Quickly tossing out the dirty trash through the window, I ripped open the bottom of the box as told.
At first glance, it seemed small, but there was another hidden compartment.
And what came out of there was something I had never seen before.
Two thick white rings without any decorations.
However, they were too small to be bracelets and too big to be rings.
They were of a rather ambiguous size.
“What the heck is this?”
“My friend gave them to me as a gift.”
“Really? You serious?”
At that moment, I couldn’t help but be very surprised.
“Why? Surprised because someone gave you something so precious?”
“Mr. Kang-hyuk has a friend? A friend who gives gifts?”
“You bastard, I’ll really kill you.”
The idea of Mr. Kang-hyuk having a friend was mind-blowing.
That was even more ridiculous than saying a raccoon had a beak.
[A raccoon with a beak? In that case, let it breed instead of hatching an egg.]
‘How about if it has poison coming from its claws?’
[I’ve heard many of your nonsense, but this is the first time I’ve heard something so ridiculous.]
I was taken aback by the unexpected situation.
“Anyways, he said it was equipment made specifically for people like you who enhance their bodies with magical power.”
“But what the hell do I do with this? It’s too small to be a bracelet!”
“Try putting it on your penis.”
I stared at the object carefully and confidently said,
“Ah, it’s too small; I don’t think it would fit.”
“Stop bragging, you bastard!”
“So where do you want me to put this?”
“No idea.”
It was an ambiguous size that wouldn’t fit on my arm or even Hyeji’s slender wrist.
I set the two rings on my desk, trying to see if they’d fit on my arms, but no way, no how.
At that moment, I recalled Mr. Kang-hyuk mentioning it was equipment for bodily enhancement.
Just to be safe, I placed my hands on the rings and circulated my magical power to strengthen my arms.
Suddenly, the rings shattered.
“AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
“??? Hey, what’s happening? Did you get your dick caught in a zipper?”
The pieces began sticking to both my wrists, forming the shape of bracelets.
Like Iron Man’s MK.42, the pieces flew to me rapidly.
However, the accompanying pain was incredibly intense.
It felt similar to the intense pain when I engraved my magical power tattoo for the first time.
Every piece that stuck to me sharply stimulated my nerves, and the repetitive pain was something I could never become accustomed to.
It felt as if the threshold of suffering kept increasing.
It was a short time, but it felt like an eternity of pain.
When I checked my wrists, I found two unadorned bracelets wrapped around them, thinner than before.
“F*CK…”
“Ah, right.”
As I complained about the pain, Mr. Kang-hyuk suddenly seemed to remember something.
“He said those are bound items.”
“You should have told me that earlier, you bastard!”
“Oh, did you put it on? Your dick?”
“Well, they’re on my wrists right now, but it hurts like hell.”
Indeed, as Mr. Kang-hyuk said, they were bound items; no matter how hard I tried to take them off, they wouldn’t budge.
In fact, trying to remove the bracelets felt like my skin was tearing off.
Ignoring the slight discomfort on my wrists, I told Mr. Kang-hyuk,
“What kind of sh*tty thing is this you made?”
“Apparently, it was made by accident.”
“I’m curious about the person who made it. What are they doing now?”
“They’re no longer in this world.”
[Well, that’s a bummer.]
‘Sh*t, I’m screwed…’
Sudden chills ran down my spine.
Though I was momentarily shocked, I steadied myself and spoke in a solemn voice.
“…I’m sorry.”
“He jumped dimensions to find his 2D girlfriend.”
“Why the f*ck didn’t you say that sooner, you bastard!!! You scared the hell out of me!!!”
I plummeted to the depths and then soared back to the surface.
It was truly frightening.
At that moment, Mr. Kang-hyuk said urgently,
“Oh, I need to go; my wife wants meat, and I have to buy some!”
“What meat at this hour? Where the hell are you going to get it?”
“Just beat up the hunter who runs the butcher shop! Take care!”
“No, at least tell me how to use this!”
That ended the call.
In the end, I received a pair of bracelets that would never come off.
I had no idea how to use them.
At that moment, Piece spoke to me.
[Since they reacted to your magical power, shouldn’t there be something if you circulate it?]
‘Oh, that makes sense.’
Following Piece’s advice, I began circulating magical power in my hands.
Suddenly, I felt the magical power circulating through the bracelets.
Though they felt awkward since they were stuck on me, they felt oddly familiar, as if they were part of my body from the start.
It seemed like they had naturally infiltrated my existing magical circuit.
But that was it.
There were no other notable changes.
They didn’t glow, nor did anything appear.
[Looks like they’re just decorations.]
‘Do I really have to endure this pain for a fashion item?’
But then, a brilliant thought struck me.
The Cheonma Repulsor utilized the principle of condensing magical power in the palm and detonating it.
The situation now with the bracelets feeling like they were part of my body.
Just to try, I condensed the remaining magical power into the bracelets.
Suddenly, the bracelets began vibrating wildly.
[The vibration is pretty intense.]
‘It’s optimally designed for my hand.’
Thinking of an alternative way to use this, I became distracted for just a moment.
Due to my scattered focus, a tiny amount of magical power condensed in my palm.
And then…
BOOM!!!!!!!
My dormitory exploded.
[…….]
‘…….’
The adjacent dorms were unharmed, but my room was completely destroyed.
What was once a two-room dormitory was now a one-room space, as the door was shattered and my desk and computer had vaporized.
The bed collapsed, and the blanket appeared to have been ripped, leaving only half.
Fortunately, the bathroom was relatively intact, but a large hole was in the corner where it had been damaged.
My home was gone.
*