The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become

Chapter 81

"Urgh! What is this...?!"

Fragments of Ji Wonhoon’s life replayed like a video in Kang Hyunsoo's mind.

Hyunsoo knelt on one knee, clutching his head.

An actor, determination, Frontier, shards of beauty...

As Ji Wonhoon’s memories poured into his mind, Hyunsoo’s headache grew unbearable. The endless stream of messages appearing before his eyes only made it worse.

[You have absorbed a Shard of Beauty.]

[Special Talent: Beauty has leveled up from 1 to 2.]

[With the level-up, all Beauty skills have increased by one grade.]

[You have acquired a new Beauty skill.]

[Beauty Skill: Thrill (B) acquired.]

[You’ve become slightly more handsome.]

[Charm has increased by +100.]

[Base Appearance Power has increased by +10.]

[Facial Harmony has upgraded from grade C to B.]

[Conditions met—title upgraded.]

[Title: ‘Charming Swordsman’ has been changed to ‘Handsome Swordsman.’]

[Title: Handsome Swordsman]

Effect: Appearance Power +40, Sword Attack Power +30%, Attack Speed +30%, Movement Speed +30%.

[The synergy between two talents begins to manifest gradually.]

[Additional Effect 1: Experience gained from defeating monsters increases by 8x.] [Additional Effect 2: Party members' experience gain increases by 3x. If their level is lower than the titleholder’s, it increases by 6x.]

A surge of overwhelming power coursed through his body.

[Rampage has been deactivated.]

“Ha... ha... This is insane. I’ve grown so much it’s almost too much for my body to handle.”

Hyunsoo planted his sword into the ground, panting heavily on one knee.

"Are you alright, Master?!"

"Hunter Kang Hyunsoo! Are you injured?!"

Swallow and Jin Gijun, along with other comrades, rushed over, worry etched on their faces, but Hyunsoo couldn’t even respond.

He wasn’t injured.

Not a single attack from Ji Wonhoon had landed. Hyunsoo had dodged every one of them and struck back effectively. The strain came from the overwhelming influx of Ji Wonhoon’s memories and the immense power that had suddenly surged into his body.

It was growth—rapid and monumental—so sudden that his body struggled to adapt.

At first, Hyunsoo thought he’d failed.

When Babylon's forces ambushed him just as he was about to defeat the dungeon’s boss monster, he had assumed he had lost the Absolute Beauty Quest.

New quests would become even harder, and he’d have to wait 24 hours to attempt them.

Fueled by rage, Hyunsoo destroyed the Babylon operatives.

They had disrupted his growth, and he made them pay the price.

Yet ironically, this failure brought about a greater growth than clearing the quest ever could.

A blessing in disguise.

[Fusion Talent]

[Lv 1: Beauty Swordsmanship]

The power of Beauty manifests in your swordsmanship. Activates under specific conditions only.

Activation Condition 1: Evade 100 consecutive attacks from the same opponent. Activation Condition 2: Locked. Unlocks upon upgrading the Swordsmanship title.

This fusion talent emerged after dodging a thousand attacks from Ji Wonhoon.

‘To think such a skill existed... I’ve never had a chance to dodge over a hundred attacks from the same opponent before.’

During his berserk state, Hyunsoo hadn’t been able to process the details. Once the skill deactivated, he quickly deduced the reason.

Until now, most enemies hadn’t lasted beyond a few exchanges before being annihilated. Ji Wonhoon, however, bombarded him with a torrent of attacks imbued with dark energy, activating the hidden condition.

Technically, Hyunsoo could’ve blocked the attacks. But his habit of dodging to preserve his appearance and avoid injuries during the Absolute Beauty Quests had led to this unexpected result.

A true transformation.

Before regression, his fighting style had been rough and defensive, prioritizing brute strength. After regression, his obsession with preserving his Appearance Power had made him more agile, emphasizing evasion.

The result?

The unveiling of Beauty Swordsmanship:

[Beauty Swordsmanship Skill: Bloom (SS)]

Imbues your blade with the power of Absolute Beauty. All magic touching the blade is nullified. Flower petals scatter along the sword’s trajectory, mesmerizing enemies who see them. Affected enemies are stunned for 1 second.

An immensely powerful SS-grade skill.

On top of that, his title, Charming Swordsman, had upgraded to Handsome Swordsman, nearly doubling his base Appearance Power from +22 to +40. Attack speed, movement speed, and attack power also saw slight increases.

The benefits didn’t stop there.

Amplifies your beauty to its maximum for a designated target. The target is overwhelmed by your beauty, temporarily increasing their Attack Power, Attack Speed, and Movement Speed by 30%. Consumes 200 Mana per target.

At Jang Seonggeun’s rallying cry, the hunters of the Samcheon Guild charged forward—only for one of them to collapse to the ground.

The hunter had been struck on the thigh by a blade of aura while trying to attack the masked hunters who had taken over the B-rank open dungeon portal. Immediate reinforcements were needed.

But...

“Damn it! These bastards...!”

Jang Seonggeun couldn’t assist the injured hunter.

The masked hunters surrounding the portal had abruptly shifted their focus, abandoning their skirmish with the Samcheon Guild to pursue a new objective.

“The mission is complete. Begin cleanup to ensure the Director doesn’t escape!”

“Yes, sir!”

“W-what?! They’re coming this way!”

“Help! Someone, save us!!”

Around a hundred masked hunters broke away from the portal, rushing toward the civilians.

“Damn it! Those bastards...!!”

Grinding his teeth, Jang Seonggeun sprinted toward the fleeing civilians who hadn’t yet escaped.

When the masked hunters had first emerged from the violet portal, they had used civilians as bait to lure the Samcheon Guild hunters away and secure control of the dungeon entrance. Then they funneled dozens of masked operatives into the portal.

It seemed their goal was to infiltrate the open dungeon. But now, without warning, they turned their attention to slaughtering civilians.

For an awakened being to harm an ordinary person was a grave crime punishable by death. Yet the masked hunters showed no hesitation, their actions devoid of any regard for the law.

A massacre loomed.

Jang Seonggeun dashed to save a civilian targeted by the masked hunters, but...

Slash!

“Ha! You think you can stop us with such feeble attempts?”

“Argh...!”

He was countered.

Jang Seonggeun blocked one hunter’s sword aimed at the civilian, only to be struck on the calf by another hunter and then kicked to the ground.

Though he narrowly avoided a fatal injury by shifting his leg at the last moment, the impact sent him rolling across the ground.

As daggers descended toward his head, he braced himself for the worst and shut his eyes tightly.

But then—

Slash! Slash!

“Gahhh!!”

“Urgh...!”

Screams erupted around him.

When Jang Seonggeun opened his eyes, the masked hunters lay sprawled on the ground. Standing before him was Jin Seoyun, her saber gleaming.

“M-Miss Jin...!”

“I had a feeling there’d be trouble outside as well. You’ve worked hard, Secretary Jang.”

Jang Seonggeun’s eyes widened in astonishment.

The unexpected arrival of an unforeseen ally left him momentarily speechless.

The masked hunters, however, were stunned for a different reason.

Not only had Jin Seoyun appeared, but the other hunters who had been raiding the B-rank open dungeon—Na Youngjin, Han Sungbin, Jin Gijun, and Yoo Hana—also emerged to confront them.

And behind them...

Step. Step.

‘Is this all that’s left of them?’

It appears so, Master.

Kang Hyunsoo walked out, his dual swords glinting ominously.

The masked hunters’ eyes widened in disbelief.

“What?! What’s going on?”

“Kang Hyunsoo...?! The Director should’ve been in the dungeon. How is he...!?”

According to their plan, it should have been Ji Wonhoon emerging from the open dungeon, not Kang Hyunsoo and his team.

Reality, however, had flipped their expectations.

“The Director? Are you referring to Ji Wonhoon? Ah, don’t worry.”

Hyunsoo raised his swords, his voice calm but laced with cold malice.

“I’ll send every last one of you to join him.”

Swoosh! BOOM! CRASH! KABOOM!

“Ahhhhhh!!”

For a while, the Paju Stadium Plaza was filled with the cacophony of deafening explosions and agonized screams.