The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become-Chapter 158

Her beautiful face and slender, elegant figure caught their attention.

The yakuza boss grinned evilly.

"Heh heh, I’ve been bored waiting, but this is perfect. Bring her to me!!"

"Yes!!"

At the boss’s command, the yakuza hunters raised their weapons.

But—

"Huh...? What’s going on? Why aren’t we moving…?"

"My feet… they’re stuck to the ground!"

"Mine too!!"

None of them could move a single step.

The reason was simple.

The black smoke that had descended from Hayuri’s body had bound their feet with the power of Greed.

"T-This woman…!!"

The yakuza hunters panicked, but still, being seasoned professionals aiming for Hyunsoo, they quickly responded.

Each one swung their weapon to break the smoke binding their ankles or launched aura-infused skills at Hayuri.

Countless skills rushed toward her.

But none of them hit.

The black smoke regenerated immediately after being attacked, and Hayuri vanished before the yakuza’s skills could even touch her, reappearing behind them.

"You said you were bored, right? Well, this works out perfectly. I’ll make sure you enjoy yourself from now on."

"……!!"

How did she—?

The yakuza boss hurriedly swung his sword, but his attack was blocked by the fan in Hayuri’s hand.

Then—

Thunk-!!

A horrible pain surged in his abdomen.

Looking down, he saw a skewer made of black smoke impaled in him.

"Ugh, aaaaaagh!!"

The screams of the yakuza boss echoed through the mountains.

But it wasn’t just him.

Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Cracccckkkk—!!

The black smoke transformed into razor-sharp blades, and the nearby yakuza hunters also screamed as they were struck.

"What the hell? We haven’t even started yet."

It was the moment Hayuri’s personal amusement park officially opened.

＊ ＊ ＊

Swoosh-! Swoosh-! Squeeeeeek-!!

"Haah, haah! Damn, I’m getting dizzy!!"

In the midst of the storm of blades, Hyunsoo dodged, stepping and shifting as he cut through other blades with his twin swords, muttering under his breath.

How many minutes had passed now?

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He had been dodging nonstop, but there was no end in sight.

At first, it had been manageable.

Hundreds of blades were whirling around him, but their patterns were simple enough, and they weren’t moving too quickly.

But after about 3 minutes, the situation changed.

The speed of the flying blades increased steadily.

And after about 5 minutes—

Swoosh—! Swoosh—! Whhhooosh-!!

The blades even released aura as they swung at him.

Like eagles, the blades swooped down quickly, then turned and launched aura projectiles back at him when they moved farther away.

The number of blades attacking had doubled.

Hyunsoo had to keep dodging, using his rushing attacks and dashing to avoid them, while slashing away with his Incarnation Sword and Lightning Sword.

Simply dodging wasn’t enough—he had to strike the blades that were nearby and use Sky Splitter or Thunder Slash to hit those farther away.

Though the blades in the air were surprisingly durable, they didn’t break or melt when struck, so Hyunsoo had to pause briefly every 10 seconds to recover his stamina.

This was a method he had successfully used in his previous life.

Hyunsoo held out for the remaining 5 minutes, and finally—

[Remaining Time: 0 minutes 0 seconds]

[Trial of the Sword 1: Survive for 10 minutes in the Sword Storm (10/10)]

[You have passed the Trial of the Sword 1.]

He had passed the first trial of the sword.

Boom-!!

Countless swords pierced into the ground.

But that wasn’t the end.

The moment hundreds of swords struck the floor, a message appeared.

[Trial of the Sword 2: Choose the sword that has touched you the most (0/1)]

[You have only one chance.]

[Any sword or sword strike that has touched you counts.]

[Time limit: 5 minutes]

The second trial began.

Hyunsoo untied the cloak around his neck, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he muttered to himself.

"Hah, the moral decay hasn't changed, huh?"

The second trial was to pick the sword that had touched him the most during the previous indiscriminate attack.

In his previous life, he had failed this trial many times and had to redo the Sword Emperor Quest.

The first trial had been hard, but it was manageable.

In his past life, he had blocked some attacks with a shield and used the Wandering Knight’s Cloak, which greatly reduced physical damage, to endure.

But the second trial was different.

Out of the storm of blades, he had to figure out which sword had touched him the most.

It was a ridiculous task.

In a storm of blades that mixed both sword strikes and air slashes, how could he determine which one had struck him the most?

Moreover, there was only one chance to make the selection.

This quest essentially seemed designed for failure.

In his previous life, he had failed more than ten times at this very point.

If he picked the wrong sword?

He would restart the first trial.

The swords would float up again and rush toward him with all their might.

"I really suffered because of this last time."

Hyunsoo smiled wryly as he recalled his previous life’s experience.

Without hesitation, he walked confidently through the maze of swords, grabbing the sword with a red gem embedded in its hilt.

There was no hesitation in his action.

The result was—

[You have found the sword that has touched you the most.]

[Trial of the Sword 2: Choose the sword that has touched you the most (1/1)]

He had succeeded.

Hyunsoo had managed to select the right sword on his first try.

The reason he succeeded immediately was simple.

"I’m glad I picked this one."

While avoiding the blades, he had purposefully hit this sword multiple times with his sword skills.

After failing ten times in his past life, Hyunsoo had come up with a trick.

If he needed to pick the sword that had touched him the most, he could force the issue by deliberately hitting a specific sword more than the others.

In the storm of blades, it would have been nearly impossible to find the right sword by pure luck.

After all, he couldn’t calculate all the strikes while dodging.

So, he had intentionally made this sword the one he hit most often, knowing that the storm of swords could be endured with items and skills.

By targeting the sword with the red gem in its hilt, he had successfully ensured it was the most struck sword.

His strategy from his previous life worked again.

[You have passed the Trial of the Sword 2.]

[Proceed to the third trial location.]

Clank—! Screech—!!

One of the tiled gates opened, revealing the final trial location.

Hyunsoo walked past the battlefield of swords and headed into the next courtyard.

The third trial of the sword was displayed before him.

[Trial of the Sword 3: Destroy the rice straw within 10 attacks (0/10)]

It seemed like a simple mission at first glance.

However, the rice straw before him was far from ordinary.

First of all, it was at least 30 meters across, and only swords with a certain level of destructive power could even cut it.

In his previous life, Hyunsoo had managed to destroy the rice straw after using Black Spot Explosion ten times.

He had used the Black Spot Explosion to gradually create holes in the rice straw, then on the tenth explosion, he had destroyed it completely.

This time, however, he wasn’t as exhausted from the first two trials. And most importantly, his Swordsmanship had improved. His strongest skill was now SSS rank, not SS rank.

"Alright, let's see if this works."

Hyunsoo raised the Incarnation Sword high, then—

"Come forth, Aphelion!!"

[Activate]

[Godly Beast Summoning (SSS)]

Hyunsoo unleashed his SSS rank Sun Sword technique.

In his previous life, it had taken ten Black Spot Explosions to destroy the rice straw, so he was eager to see how much stronger the Godly Beast Summoning was compared to the Black Spot Explosion.

With Hyunsoo’s shout—

Fwoooom—!! KABOOM—!!

An interdimensional space opened in the air, and a dragon emerged, breathing fire directly onto the rice straw before flying away.

The fire explosion spread not only through the rice straw but also through the tiled houses.

Hyunsoo quickly wrapped himself in his cloak to shield himself from the backlash before adjusting his stance.

It seemed like there was still half the rice straw left standing. He would need to use something stronger, like Giant Slash or another SSS skill to finish it off.

But as the smoke cleared, a shocking sight unfolded.

[You have destroyed the rice straw.]

[Trial of the Sword 3: Destroy the rice straw within 10 attacks (1/10)]

[You have passed the third trial of the sword.]

"…?"

He had completed the third trial with just one SSS rank skill.

What was even more astonishing was what happened next.

As soon as Hyunsoo destroyed the rice straw—

[You have completed the Sword Emperor Title Quest on your first attempt.]

[The Hidden Swordsmanship Title Quest has been unlocked.]

[Hidden Swordsmanship Title Quest: Sword Sage]

A message appeared that Hyunsoo had never seen before.

Boom—!!

As the tiled house collapsed, a magnificent palace rose in its place.

At the same time—

Sitting on a throne was Shinhyeong, a new figure.

[Sword Emperor of the Blade]

This was a new existence—the Sword Emperor, a figure Hyunsoo had never encountered in his previous life.