Turns Out To Be a Genius Duelist

Chapter 236 Misunderstanding and Prejudice (4)

A mock duel in the Global Challenger Federation. Although it became famous through various media outlets promoting it, it wasn’t that big of a deal. However, the arena was well-built and enchanted regularly by challengers to be more durable. Plus, treatment after the duel was up to the healer challengers on duty, which could sometimes lead to death during the mock duel.

Nevertheless, this place was always infested with challengers since this was the easiest way to gain fame.

“…Mr. Roberto lost?”

“Who is that person? I’ve never seen him before, but why is he so good at fighting?”

All mock duels were broadcast by the camera. Of course, only challengers belonging to the federation could watch at first, but when people gathered, there was always someone like this who liked to blabber.

“If you edit the highlighted part briefly, the view count will be no joke.”

Eventually, what happened here would spread around. Originally it was just who won and lost. However, the federation shifted its attitude when the public showed explosive interest. Several friendly reporters were allowed to enter and record, and once approved; they were allowed to upload their videos.

“Reporter Yoo! What are you doing? Why didn’t you go to get an interview?”

“What? Yes…”

“Because you’d only do it when I give you the order? Pull yourself together. Some want your position as a reporter all over the company.”

“…”

Yoo Hye-ri was helpless under the lashing words of her arrogant supervisor. She heard a tongue click from behind.

“Tsk, tsk. You lucked out by staying by my side; you should at least be diligent.”

Lucky? At least be diligent? It was ridiculous.

‘Look who’s talking…!’

Name Lee Byung-ho, the son of the vice president. Even though he joined the company later than Yoo Hye-ri, he was quickly promoted to being her supervisor.

A supervisor with almost no experience? It was ridiculous in terms of industry practices, but her personnel team tried to take charge of the work on his incompetent behalf. But thanks to that absurdity, she was able to get here now.

’What is wrong with him?’

Although the K-Daily she worked at was quite large in Korea, few reporters could enter the federation’s grounds. For reference, most allowed belonged to famous foreign media companies or had a reputation as war reporters. However, one day Lee Byung-ho suddenly received permission to enter the mock duels.

At first, no one at the headquarters believed him. This was because, by all accounts, he joined K-Daily on the merits of his family ties alone.

’He persuaded the director by calling him? He can’t even introduce himself in English.’

She still didn’t believe in that baseless story, but the pass given to their company was real. How on earth did Lee Byung-ho get permission to enter? Well, it was just her reporter’s curiosity to know the truth.

“Haah…”

Yoo Hye-ri headed to the medical ward to interview Lee Byung-ho, who couldn’t speak a word of English. Several famous reporters were already crowded in front of her, though. Yoo Hye-ri waited for a long time with them but couldn’t get an interview.

It was nothing new. Most of the challengers were more inclined to work with the media companies they heard of rather than K Daily.

’Damn it. I couldn’t get in again.’

Yoo Hye-ri returned to where they were staying like a cow being dragged to a slaughterhouse. As expected, as soon as she arrived, criticisms flew in.

“Is there anything you know how to do?”

“…”

Yoo Hye-ri let it in one ear and out the other.

’If only I had properly interviewed that man before he disappeared….’

Back before, information about the Tower was disclosed to the public. Yoo Hye-ri accidentally met the challenger named Choi Yoon-seok, and she was promised an interview in return for helping. But he disappeared, and after time went by, Yoo Hye-ri had to watch the government announce information about the Tower.

She missed the biggest scoop of her life.

’…If that was the case, would it have been different?’

Perhaps she could’ve said no when the company put Lee Byung-ho on it instead. It might have been possible to use that fame to obtain access to the coalition on her own, not to be treated as a burden as she was now.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

Yoo Hye-ri woke up from those delusions at Lee Byung-ho’s sharp tone. When she was preparing an excuse, the gathered crowd of challengers and reporters around them watching the mock duel began to stir.

“Savior cosplay? So there are still people like that these days.”

“If you’re going to do it, do it properly. It’s just a sword anyway?”

She saw a masked man in the center when she followed their eyes. It was evident who he was copying: the man who inspired numerous followers with his battle video. His swordsmanship reached the realm of divinity, and he was one of the two duel rankers on Earth and the owner of the spacecraft Lynn.

The fact that he usually wore a mask and used dual swords was widely known, and it was said that he had several followers. But…

“No, wait a minute… the Director-General is beside him?”

The hall froze. Ashton Jackson, the founder of the Global Challenger Federation, was beside him. Everyone and their families knew that he was a faithful follower of the Savior.

The masked man spoke to Ashton as if he was talking to his subordinate.

“This place seems well decorated.”

“…!”

That was enough to stop everyone’s breathing.

“What, no way…”

“It’s him…?”

There was no more doubt. That was him. That man was the well-hidden Korean challenger who used the nickname, Predator. That was why…

“…!”

Yoo Hye-ri couldn’t believe it. She thought that people enjoyed wearing masks, but that one looked familiar.

‘Choi Yoon Seok…! That’s the mask he used to wear!’

There was no way it could be a coincidence.

While Yoon-seok was looking around the mock duels, Ashton sent all challengers below the 15th floor outside.

“Other challengers will come as soon as they are summoned, so don’t worry. Perhaps all those who were in the Tower will be here soon.”

“It seems like you have a stronger authority than I thought.”

“No, not really.”

“…?”

“Since I added that Yoon-seok personally requested it, wouldn’t they drop everything out of curiosity? That’s what I predict.”

It was embarrassing to hear that out loud. It still didn’t feel real.

‘Well, as Ashton said, they’re just curious about what kind of person I am.’

“Anyway, do you want to see it?”

While waiting, Ashton played a video recorded in the mock duel. Yoon-seok watched it with interest because he proposed seeing the other challengers’ duels. And in the meantime-

“Interview! He promised me an interview!”

“…K-Daily? He couldn’t have made such a promise to such a place.”

“Who are you to judge that? Please let me talk to you at least once!”

“R-reporter Yoo! What are you doing! Let’s go. W-will you take responsibility if I lose the pass?”

He heard a scuffle from by the door. He thought everyone would leave the venue at Ashton’s instructions, but it sounded like some didn’t. Yoon-seok looked over to the scuffle.

‘I think I’ve seen her somewhere….’

“I’m Reporter Yoo Hye-ri.”

“Yoo Hye-ri”?

“I was the first reporter to recognize the Tower while investigating Mr. Yoon-seok in the past. At that time, we were quite troubled because we kept publishing articles before the U.S. government announced the Tower’s existence.”

Now he remembered Reporter Yoo Hye-ri of K-Daily. The reporter tracked Yoon-seok with just CCTV footage. When he returned to the Tower, and he vanished, she was the one who informed Yoon-seok that his parents were kidnapped. In return, Yoon-seok decided to take the interview…

But he was so busy at the time that he couldn’t keep his promise.

“Anyway, I saw the name among the reporters who requested access, so I gave them full consent. As far as I know, that reporter worked as hard as we did.”

“Good job. Can you have her come over?”

“Reporter Yoo Hye-ri?”

“Yes, with the person next to her.”

Ashton tilted his head but soon called Yoo Hye-ri and the man with her at Yoon-seok’s request. The male reporter turned white. It looked like he thought he was called to be punished.

‘It’s not like that…’

Yoon-seok was just curious. The only time Yoon-seok revealed himself was when he cleverly changed his face using b Avatar}. Very few governments knew about his real identity, and they each were warned to watch their mouths. However, Yoo Hye-ri, a reporter with no real connection, recognized him right away?

How?

“Right? Choi Yoon… no, the person I saw back then.”

Yoo Hye-ri caught herself before she said his full name.

“Reporter Yoo! What do you mean? That can’t be true. You must be mistaken…”

Yoon-seok decided to admit to it.

“That’s right. It’s been a while.”

“I-I knew it…! Did you change your appearance from that video?”

“That’s right. But how did you know?”

“That mask. You were wearing the same mask back then.”

It wasn’t a particularly nice mask. However, Yoo Hye-ri had sharp eyes.

“Could you not get masks like this in the Tower?”

“It’s known that the savior is Korean. So I just wondered when I saw your face and the video, but I knew as soon as I saw you today. It’s not just because of the mask.”

She guessed when the federation staff shouted, though. It was a reporter’s intuition.

“You know each other…?”

Perhaps it was surprising as the male reporter tagging along was stunned. Somewhat returning to his senses, he whispered to Yoo Hye-ri with a greedy look.

“R-reporter Yoo. Then it’s true that he promised to do that interview…?”

It was inevitable that Yoon-seok could hear his whispering. Yoon-seok smiled. He already knew what type of guy this one was.

“The promise I made with Reporter Yoo, why do you care about that?”

“N-no. That’s not it… I’m just worried as a company colleague….”

“You don’t have to worry. It’s a little late, but I’m going to keep my promise.”

“Then…!”

Yoo Hye-ri’s expression brightened.

“Yes. If you make a questionnaire and hand it over to Ashton, I’ll check it out and have it returned to you later.”

“Sure, because you’re busy…”

Was it different from what she thought as an interview? Yoo Hye-ri trailed off, disappointed. A moment later, she carefully brought up another suggestion.

“Would you mind filming instead of doing an interview?”

“Filming?”

“Yes. I don’t know what it is, but you’re here to do something. So I’ll just follow you.”

As if seeking an opinion, Yoon-seok looked to Ashton. Thinking it wasn’t a big problem, Ashton replied with a signal that it was up to him. It would’ve been better if he had refused, but Yoon-seok was a little lost. Well, he was planning to keep this mask on.

“It doesn’t matter if you wear a mask!”

He was planning to do training without thinking too much.

“It doesn’t matter! Even if you make kimchi, you’ll get millions of views!”

It would take a few days to finish.

“I won’t sleep!”

To be honest, all he could think about was how this footage would be used…

“…Is there no way we can?”

Under Yoo Hye-ri’s desperate gaze, Yoon-seok eventually nodded. Well, she wanted it that bad, so there was nothing he could do. It was a little late, but he’d already made a promise.

An era in which monsters appeared from rifts and threatened people’s safety. Challengers from the 15th floor and above were treated as heroes worldwide, and seeing them in person was as difficult as picking stars from the sky. However, 1,000 of them were gathered in one place.

“Jovan Trosian! One of the 100 exploration rankers! There’s also China’s Chen Xiao Hwa! Reporter Yoo! Why aren’t you taking pictures? Can’t you see the chic Chen Xiao Hwa flirting and saying hello to the savior?”

Yoo Hye-ri decided to take over the recorded version when she was done. However, Lee Byung-ho wasn’t satisfied with this and forced himself into the mock duel with a camera. Yoo Hye-ri was left in charge of pressing the shutter.

’Is he planning to film it or…?’

However, Yoo Hye-ri kept pressing the shutter whenever she felt dissatisfied. Ashton approved for all the photos taken here to be used as a courtesy. When else would there be another day when they could take pictures of those challengers? They had to take as many as they could.

—Everyone, step back from the center and take off your armor.

The challengers stepped back in a circle according to Ashton’s instructions. In the very center was Yoon-seok, and Yoo Hye-ri watched from the side without missing a single thing.

“Is he trying to fight 1,000 people alone?”

She couldn’t hear the exact details, but the atmosphere told her so. The challengers gathered there exuded such a strong spirit even she could sense it. Of course, they would be curious how strong the most powerful challenger on Earth was.

’…It would’ve been incredible if we filmed for ten seconds.’

There was a lot of evidence to prove his power, but they had only ever seen Yoon-seok fight once. And according to information reported by the federation, that was when he was on the 10th floor.

Was that why? Hundreds of challengers were asking him with their eyes, what kind of challenger are you? Are you as good as your reputation?

Somehow, Yoo Hye-ri felt she already knew the answer.

Whooooosh-!

Even if he did nothing, even if he stood still among a thousand challengers, as if he was looking down on everyone, that arrogant presence caused her skin to prickle.

Tadak!

A sound rang through the microphone, and as one of the 1,000 challengers rushed Yoon-seok.

Clench.

Yoo Hye-ri clenched her fists as she watched. He was relaxed even though so many strong players were rushing him. He easily evaded their surging skills and moved without drawing his swords.

“…”

Yoo Hye-ri got goosebumps. Even though she couldn’t see his mouth because of the mask, she could tell he was smiling. Was it just her imagination?

’No, that can’t be true.’

Yoo Hye-ri was sure. It was clear that everyone would think the same if they watched.

“…!”

But the surprise had only just begun. In the center of a flurry of energy, Yoon-seok closed his eyes. As if this was not enough.

“Damn it…! I said, don’t smile!”

The challengers clenched their teeth at Yoon-seok’s arrogant behavior. Yoo Hye-ri spaced out, forgetting that she had to take pictures from time to time as time passed.

Eventually, Yoon-seok took something out of his subspace bag.

’What he’s going to show now is… huh? What is that?’

Yoo Hye-ri rubbed her eyes with her fingers. But the view in front of her remained the same.

’Dumbbells? Why did he take those out?’

What Yoon-seok took out was an object that served only one clear purpose.

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