Chapter 62

Chapter 62

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 62“Khat! Khahahahaha! How bold, how bold! Yes! This much is necessary to call you Vito Calione's son.”

Kwak Chun-sik lets out laughter loud enough to make the entire café ring.

“So, you're asking me to pass down the Aura Style to you? The Aura Style that can only be passed down to one person and is my pride?”

“You don't have a disciple yet anyway, do you? As far as I know, your son was unable to learn the Aura Style.”

The Aura Style was a fairly difficult technique even within this game.

Aura itself was an extremely instinctive technique, and it was only much later that Kwak Chun-sik organized it into a form that was easy to understand.

By then, even his son Kwak Chun-sam was already fairly old... so although he eventually became an Aura Master, he was never able to learn the Aura Style itself.

“Aura normally hardens as time passes. That's why, even among abilities, it is an extremely delicate and primitive energy that is difficult to develop.”

He raised his hand and floated a star made of aura above his palm.

The star continued changing its shape.

“That is why both time and talent are important. Yet even my son, who was called a genius, missed the proper timing and failed to learn it.”

Eventually, he clenched his fist tightly and crushed the star, then stared at me with intense eyes as he spoke.

“If you're that man's son, you must have awakened when you were young. If so, it's practically already too late for you to learn the Aura Style...”

Was that all?

“If what you say is true, sir, then it should be fine, since it hasn't even been a month since I awakened my aura.”

“...

What? It hasn't even been a month since you awakened your aura?”

“Yes. To use your analogy... I suppose I'm about at the level of a baby who has just started crawling. Isn't that enough to qualify?”

At those words, Kwak Chun-sik becomes flustered.

Right, of course he wouldn't want to hand his secret art over to just anyone.

But I didn't miss the brief hesitation that passed through his eyes.

“But... I also have a granddaughter. She awakened at a young age and is truly a heaven-sent talent. Why would I need to teach you instead of her?”

“Would your granddaughter, who is only old enough to enter kindergarten, be able to endure the training process of the Aura Style?”

Kwak Chun-sik tries to refuse while forcing out an excuse.

Did he really think I'd come all the way here without investigating him first?

Learning the Aura Style inevitably involved forcibly expanding one's aura and widening its pathways.

Naturally, that process came with tremendous pain.

And he was going to teach that kind of training to a child who hadn't even entered school yet? His adorable granddaughter whom he cherished so much he wouldn't even mind putting her in his eyes?

This was closer to a bluff meant to seize the initiative.

“I inherited Father's blood very strongly. It's a little embarrassing to say this myself... but I'm confident that I too can be called a heaven-sent talent.”

As I smiled and observed his expression, I could see Kwak Chun-sik's pupils trembling slightly.

Would he really be capable of choosing otherwise?

I could guarantee that after I'd said this much, it was absolutely impossible with his personality.

“Ha, fine. So in the end, for the sake of preserving the Aura Style's lineage, I have to accept you as my disciple.”

Pretending he isn't pleased when he clearly is.

And judging by how he immediately decided on the title ‘disciple,’ his desire to at least keep the initiative for himself was obvious.

Of course.

It wasn't as though I was going to hand him the initiative that easily.

“...

Disciple is a little much. Couldn't we just say mentee?”

“What?”

“As you know, I'm also Calione's successor, so becoming your disciple as well would be a bit awkward. Let's just say I'm a mentee you taught the Aura Style to.”

If I became his disciple, he'd probably insist that I treat him as my master for the rest of my life while acting like an old-fashioned senior, so there was no reason to formally become his disciple.

At times like this, I could simply use the organization's name.

“So in the end, you're only going to take the convenient path for yourself?”

Kwak Chun-sik makes an displeased expression.

“Do you think I'm doing this just for my own convenience? Isn't all of this for the sake of saving the world?”

Kwak Chun-sik wasn't exactly a hero who could be called completely righteous.

Even now, hadn't he ended up here because he killed a villain instead of arresting or subduing them?

In that respect, his values and mine weren't very different.

An existence willing to stand above the law for the sake of their own goals and values.

That was the path both Kwak Chun-sik and I intended to walk.

“Follow me.”

In the end, Kwak Chun-sik sighs and gets up from his seat.

When I quietly follow him out of the café, I see the caregiver Yoo Seok-hoon smiling.

“Yoo Seok-hoon. I'll be taking this child with me for a little while.”

“Do as you wish, sir.”

With a single sentence, Kwak Chun-sik takes me inside the Silver Town.

It might have been different for other inmates.

No, residents.

But within this place, Kwak Chun-sik was practically no different from a king.

To make a comparison, it was like State Councillor Hwang Hui being temporarily exiled during the Joseon Dynasty.

There was no one here who could touch him.

The place I reached after following him was a park inside the Silver Town, where numerous elderly Awakened were exercising or chatting.

“Hey, Cheong-sam. Chun-cheol.”

Kwak Chun-sik entered among the elderly people and approached two old men sitting on a bench and chatting.

“Do me one favor.”

Saying that, Kwak Chun-sik quietly whispers something into the ears of the two old men.

Once they finish talking, they raise their heads and look at me at the same time...

I have a bad feeling about this.

“That's the one?”

“Seems so.”

“It's been a while since we had some fun.”

Leaving Kwak Chun-sik behind, the two old men step forward and begin undoing the buttons of their shirts.

When I glance around, the elderly people who had been exercising have already backed away, leaving the park completely empty.

“Ready, Cheong?”

“Of course, Chun.”

Only then do I realize who they are.‘The Youth Duo.’They had once been C-rank heroes, and when the two joined forces, they were a pair capable of fighting an A-rank villain.

And the fact that the two of them had taken off their shirts meant...

“Isn't this a bit much against an Academy cadet?”

It meant they intended to attack me.

“Hup!”

With a creaking sound, the old men's upper bodies swell dramatically.

It meant their ability, ‘Muscle Enhancement,’ had activated.

At the sight, Kwak Chun-sik, standing behind them, bursts out laughing.

“Let's see what you've got. Whether you're truly qualified to become my disciple.”

This old man, seriously...

“Since this is our first meeting, let's introduce ourselves first. I'm Cheong-sam of the Youth Duo!”

Cheong-sam flexes his greatly enlarged biceps and throws a punch at me.

At the same time, I activate [Bloodline: Calione]

and enhance my physical abilities.

Clang─!

When I swing my right hand and meet his fist head-on, a massive sound rings out like metal colliding with metal, as though there were iron inside his fist.

“As expected, students are young, so they're fiery! Chun-cheol!”

“Yeah!”

The moment I push back Cheong-sam's fist and we enter a contest of strength, Chun-cheol charges toward my lower body.

“Hek!”

If I took his ability-enhanced kick while defenseless, it wouldn't be strange for my leg to break.

If this were a one-on-one situation, I could simply jump in place and avoid the attack, but if I tried to jump while barely holding out like this, Cheong-sam's strength would send my body flying backward.

A forced two-choice situation.

Then for now, I had no choice but to retreat.

I gradually released the strength in my fist, used Cheong-sam's power against him to throw myself backward, then rolled across the ground.

I judged that creating distance and looking for an opportunity was more appropriate than trying to defend against both attacks while taking their coordinated assault head-on.

With the distance opened, Chun-cheol's kick cuts through empty air.

“The young one has some flexibility, huh?”

“Quick judgment too.”

When I stand up while brushing the dirt off my body, I see the two of them looking at me with satisfied expressions.

Seriously, monstrous old men.

Only now did I feel like I understood why ‘Hero Silver Town’ was called the final destination of veteran players in the game.

To fight seriously, I once again wrap myself in the aura of [Bloodline: Calione]

.

“Oho?”

Kwak Chun-sik watches the scene from behind with interest.

Apparently, he'd realized that the technique I had just used involved aura, hence his reaction.

“Sirs, surrender if you think you can't handle it.”

“Hoho! A youngster worrying about us. Thank you!”

“Our student should surrender too if you think you can't handle it.”

I take my stance and look at the two of them, then charge at a timing likely to catch them off guard.

Facing two people who had spent their entire lives working as partners together was difficult.

In that case...!

I launch a flying kick at Cheong-sam, who is slightly ahead of Chun-cheol.

“Hahaha! This is fun!”

I just need to take one of them down first.

Cheong-sam seems surprised by the sudden increase in my body's speed from using [Bloodline: Calione]

, but quickly prepares to catch my foot.

His experience is absurd enough to leave me dumbfounded, but there was something even they had overlooked.

“If you block it, your hand might break.”

“Hm?”

I bend my leg and send Cheong-sam flying backward along with the hand trying to catch my leg.

It was a kick thrown with the mindset that even if he blocked it, I'd take one of his hands with me.

But Cheong-sam shifts his center of gravity backward and throws his body far away, absorbing the impact.

It would've been nice to eliminate him immediately, but Cheong-sam skillfully redirected the force.

“Chun-cheol!”

“Yeah!”

Normally, he should have worried about the safety of his partner who had been sent flying, but Chun-cheol ignores it and swings his massively swollen fist at me after I'd moved close.

“You're planning to fight us by separating us one at a time? Your stamina consumption will be no joke!”

“I'm still young, so I have plenty of stamina!”

I twist my waist to avoid his fist, then drive my own fist into his solar plexus with all my strength.

“Ghuk!”

It feels like punching a steel plate.

I'd aimed for the solar plexus intending to end it in one strike again, but Chun-cheol merely retreats without falling.

“The youngster's punch stings...”

“You think only his fists sting? His kicks sting plenty too. Looks like we'll have to rush him together?”

“You think so too? Yeah, that's probably best.”

“Right. We charge on one-two-three. One!”

But without even counting to two, both of them charge at me.

One attacks high, the other low.

I desperately raise my guard to minimize the damage to my upper body while blocking the low attacks with my shin or retreating to deflect them.

“Hey, Cheong-sam, this kid's holding out?”

“Sure is. Let's speed it up a little!”

Their attacks grow more intense.

If this continued, my body would inevitably become more and more exhausted from their continuous barrage.

If that happened, I would be the first to let an attack through and would soon end up lying on the ground.

It was time for a decisive move.

“I apologize in advance!”

Matching the timing of Cheong-sam's punch, I throw my own fist while concentrating all the aura that had been spread throughout my body into my right fist.

And.

Booom──!!!

I explode the power amplified to its limit directly from my fist.

No matter how agile a hero had been in the past, the decline of physical stamina with age was unavoidable.

If he were still active, he might have endured it, but in his current state, he lacked the regenerative ability to recover the stamina spent immediately after a rush.

“Oop!”

And my fist slips through that opening, sending Cheong-sam's body flying backward.

“Aigo!”

“Cheong-sam!”

Despite shouting as though worried about Cheong-sam, Chun-cheol mercilessly drives a sharp punch toward the left side of my abdomen.

Even while one side was collapsing, he pretended to be worried to lower my guard.

Isn't that less experience and more just dirty fighting?

Judging that it would be difficult to avoid Chun-cheol's next attack, I turn my face slightly to reduce the damage as much as possible, take the punch, and retreat backward.

“Haa... Haa...”

I'd only just managed to eliminate one of them, yet my body was already thoroughly exhausted.

As expected, this isn't easy.

Still, I couldn't give up, so I looked toward Chun-cheol glaring at me from ahead and prepared for his next attack.

“Enough.”

A blue palm-shaped form appears in front of me, blocking the space between Chun-cheol and me.

“...

Is the test over?”

Hearing my words, Kwak Chun-sik chuckles and nods.

At that, I collapse onto the ground and spit out the blood pooled inside my mouth.

“Wow.”

That much blood came out of my mouth?

Just how hard does that old man's fist hit?

I'd only taken a few blows and already had injuries like this.

If I were an ordinary person, my head would probably explode from a single punch.

That was how strong the two people I'd fought were.

Coordinated techniques that were difficult to defend against, and teamwork so perfect they seemed to share thoughts without even speaking.

If Kwak Chun-sik hadn't stopped things midway, it would've probably become a fairly difficult spar unless I was willing to risk my life.

When I glance up, I see Kwak Chun-sik with a deeply thoughtful expression.

“Haa... Haa... The old men here... must do nothing but exercise after eating every day...”

“Indeed. This place is that boring. I asked the Youth Brothers because I heard you were a first-year Academy cadet, but you're evenly matched with fellows who give even active heroes trouble. That's surprising.”

“I've lived a rather rough life.”

“Ha, I'm sure you have.”

It's true...

Even if I didn't look it, I was a Hitman and an executive belonging to Calione's Enforcement Division.

“For now, you don't seem to be lacking in actual combat experience, and judging by how you gather aura into your fist, you seem capable of circulating it through your body to some extent... not bad.”

After catching my breath while listening to Kwak Chun-sik's evaluation, I slowly stand up.

“Why are you leaving out ‘moral character’? I held back a little out of respect for my elders.”

“A fellow who sent an old man flying with his fist without hesitation must be truly moral. That's not respect, that's an attack.”...

No, you're the one who started the fight. Isn't that a little unfair?

Still, his expression was extremely bright.

“Follow me. I'll write the confirmation form accepting you as my mentee.”

Watching Kwak Chun-sik's back as he walks away first, I notice the two old men have already approached me with smiles on their faces.