The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become

Behind the campus stadium stage.

“Hmm, was that last team, Team 100, the final one to enter?”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

“Let’s take a look at their specs... No matter how I see it, this tournament is going to end with Hunter Hwang Wonchang as the winner, right?”

“Yes, I think so too. He already set a new record, and the remaining teams’ specs aren’t exactly impressive.”

The tournament operations team leader and a team member reviewed the list of participants, speculating about the results of the competition.

Although the raid of the last team to enter, Team 100, had yet to end, the likelihood of them breaking the record was slim. The operations team had deliberately placed the strongest contenders in the early stages to capture the audience’s attention.

Most people shared a similar sentiment.

In the audience, seated before the stage.

“Wow, Hwang Wonchang’s swordsmanship is insane. He’s taking out mobs in just three hits!”

“That’s got to be unprecedented, right? I don’t think we’ve ever seen a hunter at this level of performance at such a low level.”

“Agreed. He’s completely eclipsing the past champions.”

The audience marveled at the live footage of Hwang Wonchang’s performance on the screen.

└ Did you see that? He took down the mid-boss in just eight minutes!
└ Usually, that takes at least ten minutes. That’s some serious time savings.
└ Damn! I bet on Hwang Wonchang to win. This payout’s going to be sweet~

The livestream comments were filled with praise.

“Wow, I’m so jealous… Hwang Wonchang’s definitely walking away with the prize money and the awards.”

“Ugh! If only I had a better weapon, I could’ve set a new record myself!”

The other hunters participating in the tournament either envied or resented Hwang Wonchang. His record of 44 minutes was nothing short of extraordinary.

But just as everyone was absorbed in Hwang Wonchang’s gameplay, an unexpected event unfolded.

A sudden flash of light erupted from the gate at the edge of the stadium grounds.

Wuuuuung—! Paak—!

A figure emerged from the gate as it flickered with light.

“What? Someone’s already coming out?”

“They must be quitting early. It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since the last teams went in.”

The spectators reacted indifferently to the unusual development. It was far too early for anyone to have completed the dungeon. After all, the current record was 44 minutes, and this was significantly earlier.

More importantly…

“What’s this? Is it a two-person team?”

“Ugh, why did I get my hopes up for nothing?”

As the light dissipated, the team that emerged from the portal consisted of just two people.

Most of the top-ranked teams, including Hwang Wonchang’s, had maxed out their roster with five members. A team of just two members seemed laughable in comparison. The idea that they had cleared the dungeon was simply inconceivable.

The operations team had a similar assessment.

“Great effort. Did you decide to forfeit? Could you tell us your team name?”

An operations team member approached the two individuals, clipboard in hand, prepared to mark them down as having forfeited.

However…

“We’re Kang Hyunsoo’s team. And we cleared the dungeon!”

“What…? You’re saying you cleared it?”

The unexpected response came from the woman holding a staff in both hands. She answered brightly, her demeanor completely earnest.

The operations team member wondered if this was some kind of joke, but…

“Yes, we defeated the boss monster and exited the dungeon. You can verify it. We’ve got bodycam footage here.”

Kang Hyunsoo and Yoo Hana’s expressions were completely serious.

The atmosphere was anything but joking.

“Let me verify that.”

The operations team member hurriedly accepted the bodycam they handed over and dashed backstage to the control area.

“Team Leader! Those two people claim they cleared the dungeon, and they submitted bodycam footage!”

“What…?”

“That’s absurd—”

The operations team’s astonishment rippled outward.@@novelbin@@

The team leader inserted the card from the bodycam into a computer. Footage recorded by Kang Hyunsoo and Yoo Hana began playing on the monitor.

The team fast-forwarded through the timeline, skimming key moments of their gameplay.

And soon, they were utterly dumbfounded.

“Th-this is insane… Is this even possible?”

“They broke the record!”

Even a cursory glance confirmed it. Not only had they cleared the dungeon, but they had broken Hwang Wonchang’s record.

“Let’s show this to the audience for verification. Put it on the big screen!”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

After a quick review to ensure the footage contained nothing inappropriate, the operations team broadcast Kang Hyunsoo’s gameplay on the main screen.

Given the fast-paced nature of the tournament, speedy updates were crucial to maintaining excitement.

The audience’s reaction was immediate.

“Huh? What’s this? A new video just popped up on the main screen.”

“Do they have something worth showing?”

The crowd’s attention shifted to Kang Hyunsoo’s gameplay.

It was highly unusual to broadcast anyone else’s gameplay while Hwang Wonchang was still in the lead. For the operations team to do so implied there was something extraordinary about it.

As the footage began, viewers saw Yoo Hana’s perspective.

• Is the camera working properly?
• Yes! It’s working fine!

Initially, the crowd’s reaction was lukewarm.

“What is this? Two people doing a raid?”

“Ugh, and here I thought they’d beaten Hwang Wonchang’s record.”

The two-person team didn’t inspire much confidence. Even teams of five struggled to break records, and yet this team had only two members.

Some audience members scoffed or turned their attention back to their phones.

But their indifference didn’t last long.

• Just follow me closely.
• Ah! W-wait…!

The footage showed Kang Hyunsoo racing through a foggy path, with Yoo Hana struggling to keep up.

Then came the moment that left the audience in stunned silence.

“What… What is this? Why are all the monsters already dead?”

“Was the footage edited? How did they take down over ten monsters in that short amount of time?”

The astonished murmurs spread quickly.

The dungeon entrance was guarded by ten golem-type monsters, which typically took about five minutes to defeat.

But in the footage…

It didn’t take five minutes.

In fact, it didn’t even take one minute.

By the time Yoo Hana caught up—30 seconds after entering—the golems were already reduced to rubble, scattered across the ground.

And that wasn’t the end of the surprises.

"There's no time to explain. From now on, if you're late, I’ll have to leave you behind. Just follow me closely."

After pausing briefly at a fork to wait for Yoo Hana, Kang Hyunsoo once again sprinted through the foggy path. From Yoo Hana’s perspective as she followed him, all she could see were the remains of defeated monsters scattered along the way.

Each time a flicker of flame pierced through the mist, more monsters would appear as lifeless corpses sprawled across the ground.

At this point, it seemed almost impossible that he wasn’t using some sort of trick, but that wasn’t the case.

The bodycam on Kang Hyunsoo’s gear began streaming alongside Yoo Hana’s perspective.

Swoosh—! Fwoosh—! Bang—!

"Graaahk...!"
"Kyaaaargh!!"

Every swing of Kang Hyunsoo’s dual swords felled a monster in one strike, accompanied by their dying screams.

One strike.

Kang Hyunsoo was dispatching every monster with a single blow.

“Th-that’s insane... Is this even possible?”

“He’s one-shotting the regular mobs in the rocky dungeon... by himself?”

The audience watching the livestream on the screen couldn’t help but gasp in awe and disbelief.

They had seen countless tournament videos over the years, but never before had anyone cleared mobs in one strike. Kang Hyunsoo’s performance was truly extraordinary. Yet, it wasn’t just the combat feats that stunned everyone.

“Holy... look at the elapsed time on the screen. He’s already cleared the starting area, and it’s only been five minutes!”

“This is record-breaking! Hwang Wonchang took at least ten minutes to clear that path...!”

Even the dungeon progression time was setting new standards. Kang Hyunsoo’s pace was twice as fast as Hwang Wonchang’s previous record.

Initially indifferent, the audience began turning their attention back to the screen, captivated by the unexpected spectacle.

Some viewers even began speculating.

“At this rate, could he one-shot the giant yeti too?”

“No way. That thing’s so tough that even hunters over level 300 can’t do that.”

As Kang Hyunsoo continued to one-shot all the mobs, expectations rose that he might also dispatch the mid-boss monster, the giant yeti, with a single strike.

But those expectations were soon dashed.

“Heh, he couldn’t one-shot the giant yeti after all.”

“Well, of course not. What were we expecting? That thing’s built like a fortress.”

In the next part of Yoo Hana’s bodycam footage, Kang Hyunsoo faced off against the giant yeti. Unlike before, where he defeated monsters before Yoo Hana even arrived, this time the giant yeti was still standing when she caught up.

Instead of charging in, Kang Hyunsoo kept his distance, launching flames from his swords as he avoided close combat.

“Looks like he’s out of steam.”

“Yeah, with only two people, they’ll probably be stuck here for ages. Yawn... Maybe it’ll take them 30 minutes.”

Disappointment replaced the audience’s earlier excitement. To them, it looked like Kang Hyunsoo was struggling against the giant yeti, dancing around it while only hurling flames.

But their disinterest didn’t last long.

“What the... What are they doing now?”

“Why are they hiding inside that rock?”

“What’s the plan here? That rock’s just something the yeti throws when its health gets low.”

To everyone’s surprise, Yoo Hana didn’t join the fight. Instead, she hid inside a crescent-shaped boulder. Moments later, Kang Hyunsoo stopped fighting and followed her into the boulder.

What came next was a tactic no one had ever seen before.

Once Kang Hyunsoo and Yoo Hana were inside the rock, the truth of their strategy became clear.

"Hold on tight. We're about to fly."
"Tooorrrr!!!"

The giant yeti, enraged, picked up the boulder where they were hiding and hurled it toward the opposite rocky mountain.

The screen showed the dizzying perspective of the rock flying through the air.

“Wh-what the...!”

“Are they insane? They’re going to die!”

The audience gasped in horror. Falling from such a height, especially into the ravine below, would mean certain death for any hunter.

But that wasn’t what happened.

Thunk! Thunk! Krrrkkkrrrr!

The boulder didn’t plummet into the ravine. Instead, it slid perfectly onto the peak of the opposite rocky mountain, stopping right in front of the boss room.

The audience was speechless.

“What... What just happened? Did they plan this?”

“Wait, the boss room really is on the other side of the mountain.”

“Whoa... He used the giant yeti’s strength to catapult them straight to the boss room? What kind of crazy genius does that?”

Normally, reaching the boss room required crossing a deep valley, which took at least ten minutes of running. But Kang Hyunsoo had used the giant yeti to bypass the entire path in an instant.

Even this incredible feat, however, wasn’t the end of his surprises.

[Level 125. Cursed Mountain’s Yeti Chieftain]

As the duo stepped into the boss room, they encountered the dungeon’s final monster.

"I’ll handle this quickly, so just wait here."

Kang Hyunsoo activated a buff and, just as he had before, charged alone into battle.

“He’s... he’s going to fight the boss monster by himself?!”

“No way... The Yeti Chieftain is twice as strong as the giant yeti!”

Disbelief rippled through the audience.

But Kang Hyunsoo didn’t stop.

As he approached the boss monster, a dazzling light suddenly erupted.

Flash—!

The brightness was so intense that it seemed to pierce through the screen. No one could tell what kind of power it was.

“Ahh!!”
“What’s happening?!”

Crackle—!

Viewers shielded their eyes, and Yoo Hana’s bodycam feed cut off, unable to handle the intensity of the light.

What followed was a massive explosion that shook the entire stadium.

BOOOOM—!!

The deafening sound echoed through the campus, leaving the competition area in stunned silence.

As the light gradually faded, everyone—audience, hunters, and the operations team—squinted at the screen.

What they saw was nothing short of breathtaking.

The camera, now switched to Kang Hyunsoo’s perspective, revealed the shattered remains of the Yeti Chieftain.

At the same time, a notification appeared at the top of the screen.

<Dungeon Clear Time: 23 minutes 30 seconds>

The new record was a full 20 minutes faster than the previous best of 44 minutes.

Pandemonium erupted.

"Oh my god... You’re amazing, oppa!!!"

On-screen, Yoo Hana was cheering wildly, calling Kang Hyunsoo "oppa."

“This... this is insane!”

“He took out the boss in one hit!!!”

“He’s a freaking monster!”

The skeptical audience shed their doubts and began cheering with unrestrained enthusiasm.

Before anyone realized it, the stadium was filled with chants.

“Kang Hyunsoo! Kang Hyunsoo!!”

“Waaaaahhhh!!!”

The crowd’s roaring applause marked the moment. Kang Hyunsoo’s legend had just begun.