Chapter 64 – Sudden Encounter

Wednesday, April 2nd 2025.

The third day of combat exams. And the order of business for today was monster extermination.

Unlike with the duels, which had a subjective and comparative grading scale based on current rankings, the monster extermination exam was based on an objective measure.

From what Lee could gather, it would be the real deal. Guest magicians from the Magician's Tower would be called in to summon monsters for the cadets to defeat. And since they'd be real monsters instead of just mana puppets, today was all business, no pleasure.

Which meant no outside guests peeping or interfering.

But...

As Lee listened to the magicians explain how the test format would go, namely about how four cadets would go in at a time and given fifteen minutes to fight against the monsters...

He couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

Especially when he read the description of his physique again. And one line in particular.

'You are exempt from magical phenomena and disrupt it with your very presence... That's what it said, right?'

As the lead magician, Jin Joohwa, continued explaining about how it wasn't necessary to defeat the summoned monsters...

Lee couldn't help but sweat a bit on the inside.

'...Will I be in trouble if the monsters just don't show up for my group?'

No matter how Lee wracked his brain about it, he couldn't figure out what would happen. Mostly because it was unprecedented.

Magic spell cancelling was a thing. So was magical interference... And in theory, you could disrupt a spell by overloading it with your mana.

But there wasn't any info about *physiques* that disrupted magic.

If it was just from before, Lee wouldn't be confirmed. After all, the magicians weren't using attack magic on him, so it wouldn't be nullified.

But since his physique had turned into one that disrupted magic passively...

'...I guess it's better I find out here than before I go somewhere important like a dungeon and learn that I just break them.'

In the worst case, Lee could just bluff and blame it on the magicians sucking at magic.

It was a dick move... but better than explaining to everyone that he no-sold magic.

'And I can bluff it a bit since I have mana manipulation- Wait.'

A flash of inspiration.

If Lee's physique disrupted magic, but <Mana Manipulation> let him control the mana in his reach...

'I just have to manually fix the disrupted mana.'

It'd be hard, and it was a hailmary... a long shot of long shots if there ever was one.

But as the magicians called Group 1, consisting of Rachel, Hajin, a guy called Skid, and himself, Lee had to just wing it.

A female Cube staff member led the way towards the exam area.

Lee instinctively moved to Rachel's right side, and Hajin instinctively took point.

The Skid guy noticed, but he didn't say anything, just keeping a bit of distance.

And as they rounded the corner, a bright cheer echoed from the back.

Evandel waved from her spot on top of Instructor Soohyuk's shoulders. "Mommy, Daddy! Fighting! Uncle Haji... Good luck!"

Hajin fidgeted with his equipment, patting down his shotguns, dual pistols, pocket sand, needles, and other gear. Then he gave a side-eye to Lee and said, "No unexpected developments today, right?"

Lee palmed his training pistol, retractible spear, sword, and his halberd on his back. After that, he waved back at Evandel before turning to Hajin. "Hopefully not. If there is, it'll probably be from Wifey's stalker."

The Cube staff member twitched a bit.

Skid, a normal looking male cadet with a plain sword at his side... he twitched too.

Rachel finished waving at Evandel and then sighed. "Must you be so blatant about your affection towards me in public, Lee?"

"It's kind of funny, so yes, Wifey."

Rachel rolled her eyes again. Then she looked at Hajin and said, "Yeonha and Kim Suho both mentioned you have a knack for sensing danger, right? If you DO happen to notice any danger-"

"Don't worry." Hajin puffed his chest out and said, "After all the bullshit I've gone through recently, I made some backup plans."

The Cube staff member glanced at Hajin and said, "...As a reminder, personal weapons are not allowed on Cube Campus, and especially not in exams."

Hajin laughed. "You think I need a personal weapon to pull off the same bullshit Lee does?"

"...Carry on." The Cube staff member looked like she had realized whatever was happening was beyond her paygrade, so she decided to just check out.

Skid too. He had clearly decided to just pretend nothing was happening behind him.

Lee thought that was smart. Honestly, he felt a bit sorry for the guy too being stuck in the inevitable chaos that was about to unfold from the simple virtue of being in the same group as Kim Hajin...

Rachel looked amused and nudged Lee's arm. "Remember that our peers will be watching. But don't show off too much."

"I'll try, Wifey."

Hajin snorted. "You're not even bothering to pretend you two aren't a thing, are you?"

"Says the guy with a gold ring on his left hand."

Hajin flinched and quickly looked down but didn't see anything. And then he realized what he did. "You...!"

Rachel laughed. "Oh my. Did Yeonha really...?"

"YES!"

Lee blinked and realized Skid was the one who cheered.

Skid blushed and coughed. "...Sorry. I had a million won on Kim Hajin getting a ring before the end of exams."

Hajin gave Skid a blank stare.

The Cube staff member let out a long suffering sigh and pushed open a large pair of double doors that opened up into a hallway. She pointed down the hall and said, "There's going to be two doors down there. Two cadets in front of each door. Stand there and wait. Good luck... and please don't make me fill out paperwork for this."

Lee laughed, immediately pulling Rachel to his side. "No promises~"

Rachel rolled her eyes, but she didn't resist. Instead she just started leading the way, tugging Lee along. "Come along then, darling. Since you clearly want to be affectionate, we might as well commit."

"Ooh, I like this bold you, Rachel. Yeonha could learn a few things from you."

Hajin sighed and nodded towards Skid. "Come on, man. Let's leave those two love birds to their thing."

"Sure." Skid walked next to Hajin, heading with him to the door on the right. As he did, Skid said, "Hypothetically, if I had a bet on Yeonha having fed you elixirs already to make you stronger, how right would I be?"

"..."

"That's not a no."

Hajin let out a long suffering sigh.

===

The objective was simple.

Behind the door there was a small room with magically restructured terrain to suit the monster that was summoned inside.

Cadets would have one minute to confirm the monster and terrain, and then they had to fight.

While Lee didn't know what Hajin and Skid would be facing on the other door behind him and Rachel, the monsters and terrains he and his lovely... wife? Babymama? Fiancee? Girlfriend? Co-parent?

'Huh. We should talk about that sometime.'

Lee had been teasing Rachel by calling her Wifey, but he should definitely clear up their relationship and make it official.

Situationships were annoying and led to heartbreaks.

Kim Hajin in another lifetime would definitely attest to that.

Not this Hajin though.

If he ever did that, Lee was going to kick his ass. Unironically.

Rachel hummed as she peered through the window. "Grassland and a Chrome Wolf..." She looked at Lee and said, "Are you going to let me show off too, or are you going to steal the show again, Lee?"

"Well, I suppose I could let my beloved girlfriend strut her stuff."

Rachel's breath hitched at the explicit title. But she didn't reject it. Instead, she smiled and said, "Well then, I'm grateful my audacious boyfriend is restraining himself today."

"Well, I do believe I engaged in quite enough tomfoolery yesterday, my fair lady." Lee winked.

Rachel paused. Then she giggled and said, "Is THAT why you were so ridiculous? Because it was April Fool's day?"

"Guilty~"

A chime echoed and the door clicked, swinging open.

Rachel palmed her rapier and said, "Shall I proceed then?"

Lee waved his hand and said, "Ladies first."

Rachel rolled her eyes, an amused smile on her face. But then she focused and stepped inside.

Lee followed after her. The moment he crossed the threshold, the door clicked shut. And then the surroundings rippled, the door vanishing as a space spell created an isolated space to fight.

...For a worrisome second, Lee noticed the surroundings ripple a bit, clearly distorting from his mere presence.

But he managed to grab a hold of it with <Mana Manipulation>, stabilizing it. And after another second, it seemed like his physique relented, settling things down.

Just in time for him to see Rachel casually binding a pair of silvery wolves with vines sprouting from the ground, her rapier drawn, clearly walking forward to execute them instead of allowing a fight.

Lee chuckled and decided to follow after her to tease her a bit.

But then he felt it.

Killing intent and rippling mana. A teleportation spell as well as another spell to seal off the space.

'...Nah. Not dealing with this.'

Lee flicked his wrist, forcibly smoothing the mana and erasing the spells. Then he walked over towards Rachel with a smile and said, "You're not even letting the poor pups put up a fight, are you?"

===

> Modified setting: Alexander Lancaster's potential has changed from 7.5 to 9.5 to serve as a greater threat.

> Modified setting: The Chameleon Troupe has become highly invested in Rachel's safety!

> SYSTEM MESSAGE: Due to rapid plot developments, the new feature [Story Update] has been added to [Observation].

> Story Update: Alexander Lancaster's attempt to teleport and terrorize Rachel during the exams have been thwarted by an unknown method.

> Story Update: Cheok Jungyeong, testing out various martial arts against a Serpent Dragon, noticed Alexander Lancaster and has engaged in Mortal Kombat.

Hajin dove under a Chrome Wolf, blasting its vulnerable underbelly with his shotgun, killing it instantly. Then he rolled up and to his feet, tossing his pocket sand at a Chrome Wolf rushing at him before firing his pistol at the sand, igniting it and stunning the wolf. After that, he executed it by flicking a needle into its eye and following up with a point-blank bullet from his pistol.

Off to the side, Skid just watched Hajin with a blank expression.

...Hajin felt a bit bad for hogging the combat credit, but considering that guy was apparently getting rich off Hajin's relationship with Yeonha, it was fairplay.

So instead of worrying about Skid, Hajin read the system messages again and sighed. "Of course."

Jury was still out on whether Lee was the Co-author or not-

> Co-author: I am not Lee Shin.

...Okay, jury was in on whether Lee was the Co-author or not. And apparently not.

Which meant that Lee Shin was DEFINITELY a revised version of Lee Wei who was originally supposed to be here in this exam with Rachel.

And that brought even more questions up for Hajin to consider...

But that was a later problem.

For now...

Hajin looked at Skid and said, "I think I showed off enough. Want me to do support for you?"

Skid let out a grateful smile and said, "Please and thank you?"

===

The west side of the island that made up Cube's campus. One that was marked the 'Western Sea' on Cube's map.

There, a towering man with bulky muscles walked out of the sea, dragging behind him the torn off head of a Serpent Dragon. The man's black gauntlets had cracked and splintered from what looked like being flash frozen and heated in succession, and his black greaves were in the same condition.

But despite his ruined equipment...

Cheok Jungyeong let out a satisfied laugh as he tossed the dragon's head onto the ground, watching as the viscera and vertebrae flopped around and clattered. "That was satisfying. I should thank Jain sometime. Mortal Kombat... Brutalities and Fatalities... those are a man's way of ending battles."

Strength refined into pure and overwhelming lethality...

Cheok Jungyeong liked it.

Although it wasn't as clean or refined as the swordsmanship he had trained in his past life... And while not quite the martial arts he initially wanted to pursue...

Cheok Jungyeong cracked his neck and said, "Godspear Li's right. I already took so many things to refine this body. No point in trying to change paths now."

A body refined with inhuman training as well as divine elixirs and various other materials gained from his time in the Chameleon Troupe...

At this point, Cheok Jungyeong's entire body was a weapon. For a man like him, there wasn't really a need to study martial arts anymore other than as a hobby. Instead...

"The fastest and most visceral way to end an opponent." Cheok Jungyeong smirked. "...That should be fun."

It was a paradigm shift. And it was also out of respect for Godspear Li.

"It's not 'No Second Strike,' but I'm also not a normal human anymore." Cheok Jungyeong looked up at the clear blue sky, feeling enlightened. "A monster doesn't fight. It kills. Ah, this is refreshing."

The frustration in his heart until now... Cheok Jungyeong felt it fall off in one go.

Because he realized it.

Martial arts were originally designed for humans to fight other humans. It was possible to adapt them to the changed world with monsters and superhumans...

But there wasn't a need to.

Instead...

"This world needs killing arts."

Yes.

Killing arts.

Violence distilled into death.

Techniques designed to turn humans into monsters themselves to defeat the new threats in the world.

Cheok Jungyeong placed his hands behind his back, like a proper martial artist. Then he looked up into the blue sky and laughed.

The reason why he had felt so frustrated.

The reason why he was so dissatisfied in the battles he came across.

The reason why he was so bored...

It was all so clear now.

Cheok Jungyeong had simply surpassed the purpose of martial arts, so trying to use them in a fight was just like trying to wear a shirt three sizes too small.

...If Lee was present, he would have pointed at Cheok Jungyeong and say something like 'Holy crap, it's the second coming of Cheonma! The Heavenly Demon Sect!'

But he wasn't there.

Instead...

"Tch. It appears that I underestimated Cube's security measures..."

...A hooded man with silvery hair dropped onto the sand through a rift in space. The aftermath of a failed teleportation spell.

Cheok Jungyeong stared at the man. Then he recognized him. "Perfect. You're the one chasing after Godspear Li's wife."

Alexander Lancaster paused and looked up. "...I beg your pardon-?!" Lancaster's eyes widened as he reflexively swung his blade, causing sparks to fly as it crashed against Cheok Jungyeong's fist. "Bloody hell?!"

Cheok Jungyeong stepped back and hummed, lost in thought. "To kill in the most efficient manner. Not to amplify force, but to simply kill..." He let out a feral grin as he stared at Lancaster. "...You seem strong enough. Don't break too soon." After that, he rushed forward again, hands reaching out in a claw towards Lancaster's neck.

"You...!" Lancaster frantically deflected it and tried making a magical clone.

But Cheok Jungyeong just flicked his wrist, sending his broken gauntlet to crush the clone, killing it in an instant.

"Hm. Too easy. That's cheating."

Lancaster frantically jumped back to open space, his eyes wide in panic. "What sort of monster are you?!"

Cheok Jungyeong placed his hands behind his back and let out a feral grin. "In another life, I was called Cheok Jungyeong. In this life, I reclaimed the name. But since Boss mentioned that Godspear Li thought me qualified enough to be Cheonma... You can call me that."

Lancaster paused. "Cheonma? What in the world is that supposed to be-" He froze, as if suddenly realizing what it was. "...Heavenly Demon?"

Cheok Jungyeong laughed and calmly started walking forward. "Since you sold your soul to a devil, let me send you on your way to hell."

"Damn it...!"

Lancaster raised his sword, wracking his mind for a way, any way, to get out of this dead end.