Seunghyuk was ruthlessly cut off when the Head Royal Guard took a step back and brought the longsword down drawing a crescent with the sword movement, slashing right at Seunghyuk, causing Seunghyuk to fall flat to the ground immediately.
"Well that was three attacks from me, and remember, these are not even close to the three attacks I would unleash on your pathetic group of people," The Head Royal Guard dropped those words heavily like anvils as they dropped on the lying Seunghyuk painfully, making him see helplessness once again after a long time.
"Damn it...She hasn't even used any of her skills yet..." Seunghyuk muttered to himself as he pushed both his palms against the ground to force himself up, but he was soon faced with faces of doubt and mockery.
"Alright, so now that I've already got a feel of the Head Royal Guard's attacks, we should start making a plan that would allow the sixteen of you to be able to stay standing after three of the attacks," Seunghyuk explained while eyeing everyone, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable deep inside as everybody was staring at him with the lack of confidence and doubt.
"Hey, you do know that you've just got fucking slaughtered by that Royal Guard, right? And you're here talking about making plans? You're planning to fucking fail, aren't you?" One of the offenders of Arkawarenia opened his mouth and hissed out venomous poison which hit Seunghyuk mentally.
"Actually, he is correct. Why would we even risk our lives to help you complete your task? What would we earn in return? Furthermore, your skills have been proven to be rusty and unrefined, so I suggest you sit down and set your sword down, then announce a forfeit. Save both your life and ours," One of the ex-royal members of Arkawarenia backed up the offender's words, and at that moment, all sixteen of them were standing up, staring down at Seunghyuk in the shape of a semicircle, like how the moon 'eats up' the sun during an eclipse.
"I...I mean...Whatever happens I don... don't want to die...so I'm not going to be participating, if...if that's a choice..." One woman from the cowardly group had her head tilted downwards pointing down to the floor whole she fiddled with her fingers nervously as she tried to convey her idea to Seunghyuk.
Offenders, Ex-royal members, even cowardly youngsters have spoke about Seunghyuk like he was merely a speck of dust floating about in the fast-moving air in the world, like Seunghyuk was insignificant. Seunghyuk obviously knew he was going to be looked down upon and would maybe hear some hurtful comments when he had fallen miserably under the Head Royal Guards sword. However, the current situation that Seunghyuk was facing had surpassed what he originally thought would happen, crushing his self-confidence that he had built from the first day when he had first came in contact with the System until now. A durable mortar formed with Seunghyuk's miserable defeat against the Head Royal Guard, and a thick, harsh pestle that came crushing down and grinding Seunghyuk's confidence inside of him into nothingness. An empty vessel that just stared soullessly back at the sixteen people in his group, feeling cold and weak, and maybe giving up was the best option he could pick at that moment.
"Well, can't you guys see it? This guy's just a fucking loser! From day one, he probably just got bullied all day long. Maybe, I mean just maybe, he thought he could escape his 'loser' identity by starting refresh in Arkawarenia. Well, nope! A loser kingdom fit for a loser like him," The same offender spoke again, but seeing as he had won, he continued to spit his venom at Seunghyuk without any restraint at all.
Maybe, I was a loser all along. That was what suspended on Seunghyuk's head on a hammock stretching across the huge crack in the ground. One small stopover and that thought would fall into the abyss and disappear, but it seemed to be resting fine without any sign of tipping over.
"Hey! My little Woofy! Go catch that stick!" A red-haired boy with several tattoos on his upper body ordered in between smiles of pure entertainment and enjoyment as he threw the stick with his great strength, tossing it at least 5 metres away from his hands, "Hey look! I threw quite far today, huh? Maybe my Conqueror abilities are starting to show, yeah?"
The red-haired boy laughed happily as he chatted with his friends by his side, also a group of people with dyed hair colours and tattoos with piercings. The topic of Conqueror Systems and Abilities were a hot topic five years ago in the year of 2054. However, as everyone was laughing about in joy of possessing a strong ability, there was that one poor soul that showed no sign of awakening. It was almost like that little boy was fated to not get a Conqueror Awakening. That poor soul getting bullied by people all around was Choi Seunghyuk, 16 years of age and still no sign of Awakening.
"Hey! You're supposed to go get the stick! Jungwon, you have awakened Conqueror abilities, right? Pit my Woofy to work!" The red-haired guy spoke arrogantly as the green-haired Jungwon stepped out and summoned a rock sphere, which was incredibly weak for a Conqueror, still it was enough to hurt an ordinary human like Seunghyuk, "Ahh! No more...No...No more...I'll get the sti...stick...I'll get the stick..."
No matter how much Seunghyuk pleaded for his life, even if he screamed his heart and lungs out, everybody just walked by and stayed in their so-called "passerby" or "stranger" identities, so no one lent a hand.
"Good job Woofy! You can be so obedient at times and so naughty at times! Next time you should just get the stick on your own so we don't have to attack you again, okay?" The red-haired guy mockingly reached out his hand and patted Seunghyuk's head, then he stood up together with his group, walking away while the laughter slowly quietens as the distance widens.
"I'm a piece of shit! Why can't I ever fight back! Am I...Am I supposed to...to be someone's lapdog forever?" Seunghyuk scolded himself as he knelt on the gravel ground with his head placed on the ground while his tears fell and seeped through the gravel gaps.
When Seunghyuk graduated from Senior High School at the age of 16, and it was because Seunghyuk was an absolute aptitude genius that Seunghyuk had amazing problem-solving and learning abilities. However, even if he had gotten a Master's Degree at the mere age of 20, he was still bullied all the way through from when he was in Elementary School till the last day of his Senior High School. After 2035, the education system did not change, but people just did not focus on education much anymore. A Master's Degree was nothing more than just a piece of paper.
Patting one's head is nothing more than a normal act to show affection, or maybe it might just be a quick joke that harboured no bad intent, but, a patting hand coming towards Seunghyuk's head was like a butchering knife ready to dice Seunghyuk into cubes. Hence, Seunghyuk had hated the act of patting his head from young, even when Yumi tried to pat his head back then, Seunghyuk almost had the urge to punch Yumi because he had some power already back then.
"My little Woofy!" Seunghyuk would always remember that red-haired boy's voice, even now since he was very sharply reminded of his past by the blunt and rude Offender of Arkwarenia.
"Well, so I'm a loser. Why are you talking so much to a loser like me?" Seunghyuk straightened his posture and approached the rude Offender at full height, and the height difference between Seunghyuk and the Offender was extremely vivid as Seunghyuk continued to drive the Offender backwards while the rest looked at the scene unfold with mixed feelings shown on their faces, "So if you lose to a loser like me in a simple, meaningless duel, would you kneel down before me and bow till your head bleeds?"
The whole battle space was silent, and the white colour of the space did not help with the blankness at all, instead it amplified the frightening aura coming out of Seunghyuk's body posture and tone that it was hard to believe that Seunghyuk was doing all that without the help of any skills. It just goes to show even further how much Seunghyuk has gone through since then.
"Hello? Would you talk?" Seunghyuk spoke at a dangerously low tone while cornering the sweating Offender to one of the white walls, exuding animosity like it was limitlessly flowing out of Seunghyuk's body.
"I...I..." Seunghyuk slowly closed both his eyes and reopened them as the danger in his eyes faded away, leaving a traumatised man shaking and sweating profusely at the wall.
"We don't have all the time in the world. I, personally, don't have all the time in the world to hear all your excuses about why you wouldn't want to help me out in this task. I hope that is crystal clear to everyone and anyone could initiate a duel right here right now if anyone is unhappy," Seunghyuk spoke harshly while four of the five cowardly youngsters started to break down and cry, the others shivering like they were placed with just shirt and pants in the middle of a blizzard, however, that one man standing silently with his aloof personality filling the room was looking at Seunghyuk right in his eyes without any problem.
"I didn't think I would be able to see someone using the King's Aura of Terror ever again in my life," The unfazed man, the only one standing still, spoke as he started to explain further when he noticed the look of pure confusion on Seunghyuk's face, "Peculiarly, I don't seem to feel any kingly energy from you, not even the energy of a royal member of Arkawarenia. Yet, you possess one of the Nighthowler King's skill, the Aura of Terror. It has the ability to terrorise anyone that is targeted, and is the best skill for a leader and someone in command. However, your Aura of Terror seems to be weak, almost forced, hence it didn't work on me at all."
Seunghyuk nodded lightly after hearing that explanation, then silently regarded to his System for confirmation, which surprisingly, picked up Seunghyuk's eye cues and splitted out the respective information.
"The man is not wrong. You have unknowingly used the sub-skill of the Nighthowling skill, Aura of Terror, just now, and you are now able to access the sub-skill freely. Your skill, Nighthowling, is at 0 star skill mastery, hence its sub-skill would follow accordingly, hence referred to as 'weak, almost forced' by the man before you."
"Well, you must be silly to think that I would just go according to your commands. I myself am a lazy person that would avoid any work possible. Hence why should I help?" The man spoke with a smirk and Seunghyuk just returned the smirk with another smirk of his own.
"How about I withstand one whole minute of your attacks without falling to the ground? If I succeed, will you please extend your help?" Seunghyuk proposed, and the man laughed heartily while his aloofness had completely washed off at that point in time, replying with a bigger smile, "Then what do I get in return if you fail? You seem to know something else when you proposed that challenge, it's not exactly beneficial to me, you know?"
"How about I help you break the Demon seal?" Seunghyuk proposed with a raised brow and a smile so bright that it delivered additional shock to the man's face.
"How did you-"
"I have my ways."
"Conqueror's Name: Kwok Ryong (Gender: ???)
Conqueror's Level: ???
Strength: 21 (Heavily sealed with Demon seal)
Agility: 20 (Heavily sealed with Demon seal)
Defense: 25 (Heavily sealed with Demon seal)
MP: 26 (Heavily sealed with Demon seal)
Skills: Backward Gravity (1 star)
Slash Of The Stars (1 star)
Space Warper (1 star)"
"Indeed, I have my ways," Seunghyuk smiled as he told Kwok Ryong, while leaving possibly a Legendary Conqueror staring bewilderedly at him.