Elcia’s one feature: She’s easily influenced by those around her.
After Choi Da-eun left and Jeong Ahyeon and I were about to get our food, Hyeji and Elcia had almost finished their meals.
It was a situation where I had wasted too much time with Choi Da-eun. I hurriedly started eating to avoid being late for the next class.
“Husband/Master, is it really okay if I don’t know my body size?”
“First, fix that weird unit. And you shouldn’t just open up about stuff like that.”
“If you open up about that in front of me, you’re really asking for it.”
“Yes. Understood. You’re really a kind man, Husband/Master.”
My hands stopped for a moment. Did I hear that wrong?
Caught off guard by such verbal abuse, I repeatedly coughed.
Keheuk! Kek! Keugh! What? What did you say?
“Oh my! You’ve eaten too sloppily, Husband/Master. Chew properly with strength in your jaw.”
I had indeed heard correctly. I had hoped it wasn’t true. It really was fcked up.
“Elcia, are you crazy? Are you really trying to make me explode with anger today?”
“Did Elcia lose her mind? Are you really okay since earlier?”
“Seriously, just call it dementia. You’re talking nonsense at yard-pound. It’s like there’s no brakes on your train of thought.”
“Isn’t it strange? The women over there said this is the best pick-up line when trying to attract men.”
Elcia tilted her head and pointed somewhere.
That place was literally a space filled with massive bodies. Upon closer inspection, there were similar races, including those that looked like they were hammered with a Katsu Hammer, breathing heavily while eating.
And they had stacks of multiple bowls in front of them.
Even from afar, there was a haze around them. The fog emanating from those pigs.
[Wow, their bodies are easily a hundred trillion times larger than normal humans.]
‘No, damn it. If I say something like that, I’ll kill someone.’
Watching them, I let out a sigh without realizing it.
“I forgot to clean up the pig farm. My bad.”
“Shinwoo, those guys seem like they would catch fire easily since they’re all fat. Can I just light them up once?”
“Master? Stop! Killing pigs recklessly would be property destruction.”
Teaching Elcia something so outrageous. I instinctively tightened my fist.
But no matter what, Elcia tilted her head in confusion.
“There’s supposedly no better phrase to entice a man than this?”
“Well, you definitely succeeded in grabbing attention… although in a bad way.”
I had indeed succeeded in grabbing attention… and not in a good way.
“Our big sister is getting old, but is her head just a decoration? Shouldn’t she get some life insurance?”
“Oh my~ But those women over there have some actual curves, don’t they?”
In the meantime, Hyeji and Elcia each threw sharp daggers at each other.
“…… Rotten wood b*tch.”
“…… Cube b*tch.”
Soon, they began exchanging fierce glares at each other.
But right now, my only focus was on those piglets.
‘What those should be getting is not education but slaughter.’
[The air has gone to waste.]
“I’m coming for you, you little shits.”
Jeong Ahyeon, holding several sparring application forms she usually carried, marched to the pig farm table and threw them down.
The pig farm table was suddenly engulfed in rage.
[Those fat blobs are going to ignite quickly. But is there even worth fighting?]
‘Trash should clean up after themselves.’
Everyone glared at me, openly displaying their rage. Except for one person.
That one person was none other than a Maegal who saw my face.
As soon as the Maegal spotted me, he used the martial art, Cheongeunchu, to escape the pig farm table.
The previous trauma from the Katsu Hammer was likely still haunting him.
However, the other piglets only began to squeal even louder upon seeing him.
“Han-nam-shit! How dare you challenge a first-class citizen!”
“When did Korea give piglets citizenship? Get your application ready and I’ll kill you all at the sparring ground!”
“Dare to associate with a first-class citizen, you third-class pig! Dreaming big, aren’t you, discarded Han-nam?”
Even while saying that, the piglets didn’t make any attempts to fill out the applications.
Could it be that they instinctively sensed the danger?
If they were beasts, they really were beastly.
“Hey, you piglets. Are you scared of Ahn-dakk?”
“Yeah, you’re feeling confident after beating a Maegal! The Maegal was the weakest among us!”
“Looking at you now, your fat is trembling with fear.”
The piglets, riled up by my words, were angered for being called pigs even though they knew the truth.
“Every day is a dreaming day! I’ll wake you up to reality, Han-nam!”
“You bastards have to pay for teaching Elcia that nonsense.”
In an instant, the pig group filled out sparring applications.
Looking at the names of the applicants, they were all frantically writing their aliases.
Yukjeonggu (육점구). Paemi (패미). Bolyeok (보력).
The other names were dizzying just to look at.
[Those guys aren’t just writing. Why is it smudged with grease?]
‘Damn, just that short of time and they drool all over?’
I took the form with the least grease and submitted it.
Of course, the staff who received it had to take the greasy side, causing their expression to sour in real-time.
[My heart aches watching this. That’s a tough job.]
‘Sorry, but what can be done? They’re getting paid for it.’
Originally, the plan was to crush them during the real training session.
However, due to two reasons, I had no choice but to drift it to after-school sparring.
One reason was that unless you were in the same class, sparring during real training hours wasn’t allowed.
Surprisingly, the pig farm group was in the same level.
Thanks to that, they said they would be paired with gold levels during real training sessions.
On the other hand, I was paired with silver levels as a bronze level.
Therefore, it was impossible for us to meet during the real training hours, meaning sparring was also impossible.
The other reason was the rapidly approaching final exam.
The exam content involved fighting random monsters.
So I had a good reason to prepare for it.
‘Fighting with Cheonma was a bit of an exceptional case. It was harsher than catching a monster.’
[If you hadn’t just spoken that Cheonma Chakjeong nonsense, it wouldn’t have been as hard.]
Anyway, as soon as all classes ended, I headed straight to the sparring ground.
This time, the observing professor was Professor Pilyong.
“Shinwoo, do you think you can take care of all of them?”
“Don’t worry. If you need, I can squeeze some grease out for you.”
“……That won’t be necessary, so don’t hold back.”
Moreover, enough people gathered that I could even make bets.
They probably gathered due to the news of cleaning up the filthy group.
However, both sides had pretty similar betting odds.
It was likely due to the way I had been exhibiting myself up to this point.
It didn’t seem like I could expect any reverse bet now.
Still, the amount bet on the pig farm team was surprisingly large.
Looking at the hateful gazes from those betting on me, it seemed like they had suffered quite a bit from previous reverse bets.
Meanwhile, Hyeji, Elcia, and Jeong Ahyeon, along with other students, had put their stakes on me.
“Master! You’ll win anyway, so don’t hold back!”
“Shinwoo, I’m taking a nap. This little brawl is so boring, I might die.”
“Husband/Master! If you make money this time, we’ll all put it into ‘Elf’ coin!”
“Hey, damn it. Elcia, stop that!”
[Even if I make money, there’s nothing left.]
‘Elf coin. Seriously.’
Suddenly, the ground shook.
The cause was those enormous lumps of flesh approaching the sparring ground while stomping heavily.
In response, I pulled out my prepared Katsu Hammer.
“Han-nam! Are you ready to fall below third-class citizen!”
“You guys are not for recycling but just plain garbage, right?”
Moments later, after the observing professor’s clichéd words ended, the sparring ground system was activated.
It was the beginning of a massacre.
*
The sparring results were overwhelmingly one-sided.
And of course, the Maegal had already fled.
As a result, the difficulty of the pig farm family’s conquest had significantly decreased.
Additionally, strangely, if I swung my Katsu Hammer just once on their heads, they would get stunned right away.
It was really a counters against pigs.
[It’s surprising if monsters get stunned this easily.]
‘That was a one-shot, for real.’
The only somewhat troublesome adversary was the hefty female called “Bulbaek Widow.”
Her quick movements didn’t match her size. She was surprisingly good with guns.
Those two factors made approaching her more difficult than expected.
However, aside from the difficulty, the finish was quite simple.
The Bulbaek Widow attempted to dodge the hammer I threw with a backflip.
She probably thought she was overflowing with confidence.
But that was the problem.
The moment that hefty body turned halfway, gravity mercilessly slammed her into the ground.
As if paying for the accumulated weight.
Naturally, she ended up suffocating before I could even hit her.
[…Anyone would think she fell from a high place.]
‘Dropping from a height makes no difference from just now.’
Regardless, good things are good.
After quickly tidying up all the pigs, I returned to where my group was.
“Husband/Master! That was so cool! I’m putting in again as a celebration!”
“You crazy b*tch! Stop!!!”
Elcia quickly shouted before adding her stake.
“Oh, this isn’t a plan, just a notice. I already put in 35 minutes ago.”
“…Ozymandias at least had some intelligence; you brainless elf.”
Elcia had already executed her plan.
Surprisingly, she was full of initiative in a place like this.
Then a question arose.
“Damn, how did you manipulate my phone! There’s a password!”
“My hobby is stalking! Of course, I know everything about you, Husband/Master!”
“…My hobby is reading.”
“Of course, I know that too!”
My head began to throb.
I made up my mind to change the password later.
And I murmured painfully while looking at Elcia.
What the hell was that crazy coin even about.
“Why on earth are you investing in that?”
“Don’t worry! It’s going to rise insane amounts! Definitely!”
“H…”
Elcia was quite confident.
I wondered what she was believing in so much.
Meanwhile, Hyeji rubbed her eyes, got up, and spoke to me with sleepy tones.
“Yawn… Shinwoo, is it over? Let’s go eat.”
“Hyeji, could you treat me to food just for today?”
“…..Fine.”
Money.
It vanishes like the morning dew.
It’s not that it’s absolutely not in my bank account.
*
My ability registration process.
Even if I wasn’t doing it directly, I was curious about the progress.
I heard that there have been seven rejections already.
The government’s stance was that they couldn’t accept the existence of an ability that could merely enhance physical strength.
‘If I reveal my ability, they’ll think I’m a lunatic or crazy, right?’
[…Isn’t that no different from now?]
‘Damn it.’
[Who would believe you even if you revealed it? No one would publicly announce they’re regressing.]
I closed my eyes and imagined explaining my ability to the government staff.
In my imagination, I was speaking passionately.
On the other hand, the listeners just looked apathetic.
“I have regressed, you know? I did!”
“……Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“To the psychiatric hospital.”
Before graduating, I was going to end up in the psychiatric hospital again.
However, if I can’t register my ability, that might actually be a good thing.
Effectively being treated as an incompetent means less chains compared to other ability users, which is a huge advantage.
[The issuance of security cards and certificates for ability users was quite troublesome, after all.]
‘Registering an ability as a business license is also an issue.’
[If I’m seen as an incompetent without those chains, they probably would take less tax from me.]
‘Insurance would be easier too.’
Even if I were to get registered, there wouldn’t be a major problem.
Since it wouldn’t be me suffering in confusion; it would be others instead.
[But what if you get registered at a really bad timing? Wouldn’t that be the worst?]
‘How bad could it possibly get?’
But I didn’t know at that time.
How if I were to mess up such an important matter in an awful way?
