Your Girlfriend Was Amazing-Chapter 122: The Winner of Gladire is...!

The Winner of Gladire is…!

In general, corrupt officials are often depicted with negative images such as being fat or overly greedy. They are the quintessential villains in old stories, always present. They are the spicy seasoning that always got defeated by the good guys and make the protagonists shine. That's what a corrupt official is.

At first, I thought it was something bad.

I even wondered if I might get fat when I got the role. But my thinking changed when I started personal training.

———————————[Demonized Corrupt Official]

A corrupt official is a greedy, corrupt bureaucrat who commits wrongdoings as easily as eating a meal. They often play the role of being defeated by the protagonists and serving as a stepping stone for their success. But your corrupt official is different.

From the classic masterpiece The Tale of Chunhyang, the Corrupt Official Byun Satto who defeated Lee Mongryong. A corrupt official where poetic justice doesn't apply.

When in the [Demonized Corrupt Official] state, your power is determined by the material wealth, women, and other physical riches you possess.

Even Lee Mongryong couldn't take away your wealth and power. Hence, a corrupt official never loses anything to others.

The precious metals adorning your body dazzle the opponent and disrupt their rationality.

Your weapon is enhanced into a distorted golden pickaxe.

The hidden function of the weapon is yet to be activated.

You have touched the seven roots of sin.

You are ???——————————

Mammon?

The weapon transforming into a pickaxe, the golden veins running through the body, and the adorned precious metals all resemble Mammon from mythology.

My body feels immensely powerful.

Despite having the top-tier physical enhancement skill Alpha Male, I could feel the increase in strength. Even when I faced Kim Minsoo at the The Tale of Chunhyang gate, I overwhelmed him with just Demonization.

Now, with the added attribute, controlling the power is challenging. Moving, transferring, and releasing power—it's difficult to achieve these three properly.

Too easy.

So instead of quickly ending Lee Joon early on, I focused on handling my power.

Why is he so weak?

The problem was that Lee Joon was too weak. Even when I deliberately made the precious metals on my body jingle to simplify my attack patterns, he couldn't react properly. In difficult games, even bosses can be defeated without taking a hit once you understand their patterns, but he lacked such skill.

Punching in one breath, then swinging the pickaxe while holding my breath. Lee Joon was struggling to avoid these simple moves. He boasted about being an executive of Noble, but his skills were unimpressive.

I hope Max is different.

The original plan was to quickly subdue him with full strength. However, because Lee Joon was so weak, I couldn’t move with full strength as it might kill him.

Hoping Max would be different, I played around with Lee Joon appropriately. I slowly eased up and waited for him to use his Steal skill.

"Kuhaha! Now!"

He seemed excited, as if he had finally adapted to my attacks, not realizing that I had been holding back. He wore a confident smile, boldly closing in and extending his hand.

He's about to activate it.

Predictable, but I decided to let him do it. After all, the result was already determined.

"Steal activated!"

Lee Joon had a genuinely bright expression on his face. It was hard to believe he was the same person who had been beaten up and had swollen lips just moments ago.

[The corrupt official's wealth can never be taken. Those who covet the corrupt official's wealth will be punished!]

"What?"

The startled fool seemed to forget he was in a fight and froze.

Smack—

"Arghhh!"

He looked so dumbfounded that I slapped him across the face. I deliberately approached him slowly as he lay sprawled on the ground. I wanted him to fully experience fear. I wanted him to imagine the incoming violence until his head was about to burst.

"Don't come… Don't come…! Stay away!"

As expected, he was visibly terrified. As I slowly walked towards Lee Joon, he was trembling like a leaf.

"Now, let's talk in detail about this Steal… You understand?"

It was time to open the floor for a serious conversation. Even though I asked only a few questions, Lee Joon quickly started talking. His fear of getting hit again was palpable.

As a result…

"So, you don't know who the executives are either?"

"Y-Yes, Noble holds social parties and such, but they're very strict about keeping certain groups separate…"

"Your response is a bit short."

"Eek! I'm sorry. I mean, I'm mentally weak, so…"

Lee Joon very kindly answered each of my questions.

"Sure, sure, I get it."

"So, if I may continue…"

Some of the information about Noble was quite surprising. The most unexpected point was that these guys weren't all that close-knit. I had assumed that, as a group of born awakeners, they would be tightly bonded and supportive of each other.

So a full sweep will be difficult.

My plan to catch them all in one go dissipated like smoke.

"…so as you expected, Max and I participated here, and the executives are just at that level. I don't think there's much to gain by capturing them."

"Why?"

"Well… Even if there are executives, they don’t possess the Steal skill. The reason Noble remains untouchable despite being publicly known is that they don't commit illegal acts. It's like they don't get caught because they don't leave evidence. And they're very thorough with cutting ties, so even if you catch the leader, it won't lead to anything."

Lee Joon's subsequent words were quite deflating.

Well, if the one who stole the skill denies it to the end, it's nothing… And even if they don’t deny it, there's no evidence.

Even if you know someone did something wrong, you can't catch them without clear evidence. Since skills aren't something visible to the naked eye, gathering evidence is even more difficult.

Having a Steal skill holder right in front of me only serves as evidence for a personal crime. Linking it to the entire group as a criminal organization is another matter entirely.

Still, just capturing him is a significant gain.

Even if I couldn't link them to a crime spree, I could imprison them for a period. The investigation would depend on Jang Duchul's capabilities.

"Yeah, thanks for your effort in explaining."

"Oh, thank you—"

Bam!

"Now, you can pass out." I accurately kicked Lee Joon in the chin.

Now its Max's turn to get beaten.

++++++++++++++++++++

[Ah! The final match is over! The winner of the Gladire tournament is Baek Taeyang! The award ceremony will be held shortly, so please exit the gate and come up to the podium!]

That was nothing special.

Max turned out to be a rather predictable character. Brimming with passion and confidence, full of arrogance, beating up the protagonist and becoming even more boastful—he was just a typical middle-boss underling.

But the sound he produced was pretty good.

Though not as satisfying as Minsoo, he wasn't bad to fight against. Even if it wasn't quite the satisfying squeal like Minsoo's ‘Kuweeek!', Max's squeal was still a great sound.

If he had put up a barrier like Lee Joon, the broadcast might have been blocked. But Max was so focused on beating me that he didn't bother with that. As a result, his squeals were vividly broadcast to the entire world.

There wasn't even a need to use my demon form…

Unlike Lee Joon, Max Beramic had a fatal flaw. If he couldn't overcome it, he'd never be able to beat me no matter what.

He's a virgin…

[Alpha Male activated! Absolute dominance over virgins!]

I dismissed the message window still floating in midair. The thought that this guy, who mocked Minsoo so energetically, was no different from him in the end, was hilarious.

I tried to erase the grin from my face as I walked out of the gate.

Oh…

I wondered how much further I'd have to walk to get to the podium. But Gladire had set up the podium right outside the gate. For the first time, I felt pleased with the tournament.

"Baek Taeyang! Congratulations on your victory. Please say a few words!"

I stepped up to the podium, received the trophy, put on the belt, and was surrounded by microphones. It was a familiar situation. The tiresome press conference.

"First, I'd like to thank the Hunter Association for allowing me to participate in this tournament, and Victory Academy for giving me the courage. I also witnessed the passion and spirit of the senior hunters. While I was lucky to win this time, I believe it would be very difficult to achieve the same feat again. I've come to appreciate the hard work of the senior hunters once more."

"Then what did you mean when you said Max Beramic was too weak after beating him up?"

"Oh, that was a self-deprecating comment about my own weaknesses. There's no way I'd speak ill of Hunter Max."

"Is it true that Student Kim Minsoo picked up multiple free condoms and accidentally dropped them on the floor?"

"That's not true. If you're going to ask such questions, I'll end the Q&A here."

"Why ask such a question… Get that idiot!"

I was used to this by now. I easily deflected the trolling question about Minsoo, and reported everything to Instructor Jang Duchul.

I just want to quit all this… and go to the academy. I felt like I had wasted too much energy on trivial matters. I wanted to go and woo Melanie and Ryu Hyemi. Jang Ducheol can handle the rest.

Thus, the eventful Gladire tournament came to an end.