Chapter 19: Different from Before (6)

Jiho looked around the scene.

Because of the sudden appearance of the monsters, the residents of the nearby residential area weren’t able to evacuate. Instead, they were hiding in their houses with their lights turned off. If Jiho tried to do something and the monsters used their skills on the nearby buildings, it would result in a catastrophe. 

Right now, the best thing he could do was to evacuate the panicked student and lure the monsters out to a place with no humans.

With a monster of that rank, even if he gets hurt, Jiho wouldn’t die. Thankfully, the monsters were extremely slow.

“Hey, move!”

“A-AH!”

The student filled with terror just screamed. For some reason, even though he was flailing his body around, he remained stuck in the same spot.

Looking again, a sticky green substance was stuck to the ground the student was sitting on. It seemed that he wasn’t able to move because of that substance.

From the screaming student, Jiho could feel a thin stream of mana flowing out, much weaker than what was coming out of the fissure.

At the same time, Jiho could see small pebbles around the student fly through the air and hit the monsters.

Although the stones were too small to do much damage to the monsters, that was definitely a skill.

Jiho quickly opened the student’s status window.

Status

NameKim Dong SuOccupationMiddle SchoolerRankFTitle–HP18MP29Strength14Agility13SkillTelekinesis ( F )

‘F-rank…’

Although F-ranks aren’t usually able to fight, an awakened one is still an awakened one.

Jiho took a single-use item out of his inventory pocket and threw it.

Reacting to the mana, the item expanded into a blue wall of mana in front of the lykyll.

Whenever the lykyll tried to approach it, they bumped into the wall. Whether it was because they have low intelligence or they’re just violent in nature, the monsters ignored the wall and continued to try to get closer. It was a good thing that they didn’t wander off anywhere else.

Jiho approached Kim Dong Su and squatted down next to him. Feeling someone grab his shoulder, Kim Dong Su turned around towards Jiho and was shocked.

“Sh, Shin Jiho?”

Who’s this youngster referring to so informally? Instead of acting like a kkondae1, Jiho asked the student a question.

“Did you not receive any training after awakening?”

“I-I just awakened so…”

“Aha.”

It seemed that he was just a little sapling who threw something out there because he doesn’t know how much power he has yet. It was obvious.

“Even if you did that for 100 days, do you think anything would happen to them? You’ll just enrage them even more.”

“B-but, I can’t run away…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to run away.”

Even though the wall of mana was slowly weakening, Jiho smiled confidently.

“You’ll be able to kill them now.”

“I-I can’t. I can only pick up small rocks with my power.”

Still, based on his despair right now, it seemed that Kim Dong Su was able to analyze his situation in a short amount of time. Jiho squeezed Kim Dong Su’s trembling hand tightly.

“It’s okay. You can do it.”

“No, but…”

Kim Dong Su’s face turned bright red. Jiho thought the student was shaking too much from the shock. But this isn’t something he needs to be so nervous about.

Although every second counted, Jiho didn’t hurry. The power of a newly awakened one is unstable. Calming Kim Dong Su down came first.

“You don’t have to be so afraid. Did you hear about Apollon guildmaster’s press conference?”

“I did, but… I’m weaker than that person and…”

“I know that too. But I’m saying this to you because I feel like you can do it.”

“M-me?”

“Yeah. The boss monster that Seon Tae Woong killed was at least an S-rank. Those are only about D-rank. They’re much weaker, aren’t they?”

“They are but…”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to be so nervous. I’m just suggesting that we try. If it doesn’t work, I’ll block them for you. I’m a B-rank, so I can kill those.”

Kim Dong Su stared at Jiho. His eyes seemed to be saying ‘Then you should kill them yourself; what are you doing instead of killing them?’ Jiho grinned and shook his head.

“There’s only one of me. It’s dangerous if I tried to kill them one-by-one because the monsters could attack the apartments and hurt someone. But if we increase your power with my skill, we can knock them out all at once, making it much more effective.”

“…”

“I’m telling you this because I think you can do it. Don’t worry so much and just try it once. Even if you fail, no one will blame you.”

Kim Dong Su, who was dazedly listening to the soothing words, nodded his head. 

“Yes. T-then I will try.”

Although he still looked unconfident, it was enough that he had the will to try. After all, it was better to be nervous than to be overconfident and make a mistake. 

Having obtained Kim Dong Su’s agreement, Jiho looked around him. He picked up a leaf off the ground and handed it to Kim Dong Su.

“Your attribute seems to be telekinesis.”

“Yes, I think so too, but…”

“Can you try ripping this leaf apart with your skill? Exactly in half.”

“I-I’ll try.”

Kim Dong Su closed his eyes and used his skill. Although it was clumsy, the leaf ripped into two pieces.

“Ah…”

Instead of ripping it in half, the leaf split 7:3. Still, this was impressive, considering that it was his first time.

But Kim Dong Su, who couldn’t do what was requested, looked like he was going to cry.2

“I, I ripped it wrong.”

“That’s expected as your first time. This much is impressive.”

“Th-thank you.”

“This is enough. Think about how you felt just now. Concentrate.”

Kim Dong Su nodded.

Trusting the middle schooler in front of him for now…

It was time for Jiho to help him kill all of the monsters in front of him.

In fact, this was the first time that Jiho was actually using his skill. Because he had broken bones and injuries everywhere at the time, he doesn’t really remember using the skill in the dungeon.

Plus, it was actually his first time using this particular skill.

[Absorption of the Celestial Sphere.]

Using [Absorption of the Celestial Sphere], Jiho can absorb mana from things on earth.

As soon as he used the skill, mana flowed towards Shin Jiho. It came from everywhere: the asphalt roads, planted trees, freely flowing wind, surrounding buildings, parked cars…

Jiho was able to absorb a large quantity of mana from things that he didn’t even know carried mana. Jiho was flustered.

‘This hurts more than I expected it to.’

Did he absorb too much mana?

Absorbing the mana isn’t hard. But when the mana enters Shin Jiho’s body, it takes a big toll on him. Jiho let go of his greed and dispersed the excess mana.

This was more than enough.

In an instant, the MP exceeded Jiho’s mana by two thousand. 

Although he can only use this skill outside of dungeons because of its conditions, it was so useful that it far exceeded the drawbacks.

[Blessing of the Star.]

With the skill, all of the mana that Jiho had collected flowed towards Kim Dong Su. Jiho only passed Dong Su half of the mana he had collected just in case.

It must’ve been enough though, because, like Seon Tae Woong’s, Kim Dong Su’s power was greatly enhanced. Jiho shook Kim Dong Su, who had a look of great ecstasy plastered on his face, hard.

“Kim Dong Su. Dong Su!”

“Ah…”

Only after calling his name did Kim Dong Su look at Shin Jiho with a bewildered look. Although it would have been difficult if he had asked how Jiho knew his name, it seemed that Dong Su was too out-of-it to notice.

Kim Dong Su’s dazed eyes finally regained clarity.

Jiho pointed to the front with his thumb for Kim Dong Su to see.

The lykyll were about to break through the wall of mana. However, unlike before, there was no fear in Kim Dong Su’s eyes when he looked at the lykyll.

“Can you do it?”

“Y-yes!”

Like Seon Tae Woong did, Kim Dong Su answered with a voice full of confidence. Jiho hadn’t been worried before with Seon Tae Woong because he was an experienced A-rank combat hunter, but he was a little concerned with Kim Dong Su since he was a newly awakened F-rank hunter. Jiho whispered quietly to the overly excited Dong Su.

“Don’t get too excited. Gather up the monsters and then rip through them like you did with the leaf.”

“Okay!”

Having answered energetically, Kim Dong Su activated his skill.

When he used his skill before, there had been no changes to Kim Dong Su’s body.

But after receiving a lot of mana through [Blessing of the Star], Kim Dong Su’s eyes glowed bright blue, like the color of the clear sea.

Kim Dong Su’s mana, with which he could only throw small pebbles before, had increased ten times more than before. It overtook the monsters at once.

KWAAAANG!3

The roar absorbed all of the smaller sounds in the area.

The mana was so strong that the air shook from its force. With that mana, a great blow crashed down.

The power of the skill that Kim Dong Su released was impressive.

The low-ranked monsters couldn’t do anything against Kim Dong Su’s skill. They weren’t split in half; rather, they were completely crushed into pieces. Even though the aim was slightly off, because the attack was so strong, it didn’t matter.

Including the ones that had crawled out of the fissure, ten monsters were killed.

In one blow.

For the people trembling in fear, the attack was like a breath of fresh air.

But for Shin Jiho and Kim Dong Su, they couldn’t exactly rejoice in their victory.

“Ah…”

“Huk.”4

Kim Dong Su’s one strike was strong. Too strong.

The monsters weren’t the only ones to get attacked by the blow. A part of the road had been dug out. Not only that, but even the commercial building at the end of the alley had been split in two as well. Though it seemed that no one was there because of the time…

Looking down at the road that had been destroyed beyond repair, Jiho felt light-headed.

He had actually sent a lot of mana over to Kim Dong Su on purpose. 

The people who couldn’t escape were watching them. If the F-rank that Jiho had personally distributed mana to was suddenly stronger, then all of the people here would be able to see Jiho’s power.

But Jiho didn’t realize that 1000MP would make such a big difference. After all, his own MP was 1400.

“I should control it better next time.”

A slight smile began to appear behind Jiho’s mumbles.

He could hear the sounds of nearby hunters approaching.

[Breaking News] Gate Appears in Seocho-Dong… Emergency Alert Issued[Report5] 6th-Degree Fissure Appears in Seocho-Dong… Monsters Taken Care ofOn April 20, at 10:20 p.m., an unexpected one-time gate opened up in Seocho-Dong and injured seven people. The injured are currently being transported to a hospital, but their lives are not in danger.
It has been reported that a passing B-rank hunter and newly awakened one who is yet to be ranked took care of the monsters.
Although a fire started as a result of the fight, the hunters that arrived later contained the fire, and, right now, firefighters are taking care of the remaining flames.

Hunter Space

Title: Unranked awakened one might be S-rank
(Demolished_Street_Pic.jpg)
(Collapsed_Building_Pic.jpg)
Look at how this collapsed they say this is from one strike
He still has to go through the assessment but with this much power, there’s no way he’s lower than A-rankComments:– Wow I just wet my pants I had to change them– Does our country really have six S/SS-ranks?
 I feel so proud the country next to us has two times our population6 but only three S-rank hunters

Hunter Space

Title: New S-rank is a middle-schooler
(Video_of_Awakened_One_Using_Skill.mp4)
He’s wearing a uniformComments:– If he’s a middle-schooler he can’t be a hunter what’s the minimum age for hunters?
 He has to have his ID
 When do you get an ID; 18?
 17 by international age7– He won’t have to take the entrance exam lucky

Hunter Space

Title: The passing B-rank hunter was Shin Jiho?
Title says it all8Comments:– Didn’t ask
 ?? The title says it all so don’t press on it and just move on, ahjussi
 Did anyone ask if this bastard was curious?– If Shin Jiho’s new skill is strengthening… the new awakened one might not be S-rank
 Even if you’re strengthened there’s no way you can become an S-rank
 Do you believe in Seon Tae Woong’s fake news?
 There are still some people that believe it’s fake how pitiful
 There’s a higher chance of Shin Jiho’s skill being useful than another S-rank appearing in Hell Joseon9

Hunter Space

Title: The newly awakened one is only F-rank
Can an F-rank be this powerful?Comments:– Smells suspicious again
 Stop spreading false rumors; think rationally if he could get out of an S-rank dungeon safely he can probably strengthen others by at least that much

Hunter Space

Title: Evidence that HA is manipulating the assessment
(https://www.metube.com/watch?v=RkdlA3293xxx)Comments:– Even though you call yourself a hunter you believe in this kind of conspiracy… Don’t go around saying you’re a hunter it’s f*cking embarrassing– How are you a hunter in Korea if you can’t trust the HA? Go to another country– This MeTuber is the one who truly believes that Joo Yiwon maintains his state as an SS-rank hunter by absorbing the strength of other S-ranks lolololol
 Tell him to figure out how he absorbs that ㅠㅠㅠ I’ll believe it if I become an SS-rank

Hunter Space

Title: Shin Jiho, who manipulated an S-rank into an F-rank, should wake up 
Did you come in because you believed the title? 
If so, gogo to the hospital you have to treat mental illnesses quickly to get better lol
You guys were cursing at the corrupt HA saying that they were manipulating lower ranks higher to improve their own performance but now you guys are saying bullsh*t like how the corrupt HA is being controlled by a single hunter to manipulate an S-rank into an F-rank
Your thoughts should be unified sh*t lolol did the HA have a gun to their head or something why would they downgrade an S-rank to an F-rank lolololComments:– I came in to curse but I’ll leave now– Looking at all the bastards spreading fake news about him, Jiho is like the American president or something
 Shin Jiho in their heads: Release the S-rank as an F-rank!
HA: *weep weep* yes10

Hunter Space

Title: Shin Jiho is supposed to get reassessed; maybe S-rank?
If he can strengthen an F-rank to an S-rank, isn’t he definitely S-rank?Comments:– We’ll have to see if he can only do that once or twice then he’s about A-rank not S
 What if he can keep using it?
 He can even be SS-rank… Of course, he’ll have to get public approval like Joo Yiwon did last time so it’ll take a while to advance

1. 꼰대 (“kkon-dae”) is someone older who acts like they’re tough and wise because of their age. Like a Karen. What Jiho is referring to here is that KDS didn’t include any honorifics when he called Jiho’s name, despite being much younger than him.

2. He’s so cute. He’s just a little child. 

3. Think of this like a loud explosion. Like when you bang metal with a stick or something.

4. 헉 (“huk”) is a sound that Koreans make to indicate surprise.

5. News is split into 3 categories in Korea: 1보, 2보, 3보. The first one was 1보 which is news that comes out RIGHT after the event. It’s a short report that states all of the immediate facts. This one is 3보, which is a longer report that comes out a little afterward after all the information has been collected.

6. Japan.

7. Koreans have had an age system where newborns are 1 when they’re born. Instead of turning a year older on their birthdays, they do so on New Years. International age is the standard age system that most of the world uses, where you’re 0 when you’re born and you gain a year on your birthday. 
I’m kinda sad. When I first drafted this chapter out, Korea still used that system. As of this year (2023), Korea has switched to using the international age system.

8. ㅈㄱㄴ is an abbreviation for 제목이 곧 내용 which literally translates to “Title is soon content.” It means that the title tells you everything you need to know.

9. 헤조선 (“Hell Joseon”). Joseon is one of the old names for Korea. It refers to how Korean society is close to hell, and that there is no hope. Fun.

10. This made me laugh so hard XD. The words used for weep weep is 흑흑 (“heuk heuk”) which is the sound when someone’s crying/sniffling. I was thinking of saying “sob sob” but… I like the idea of them weeping.