Subscriber of the Gods - Chapter 118: Counter-Radiance

“What’s going on? You’re not asking for another fight, are you? Sorry, but I don’t have much time. Midterms are coming up. I have to study.”

Mason mentioning having to study for exams came as a surprise to Max, who still wasn’t used to it.

However, Mason had changed.

He had to accept that fact. He had clearly lost in that duel.

“Studying for exams, that’s really an odd thing for you to say. Well, as the loser, I have nothing more to say.”

“It was just luck. If we fought again now, the chances of me losing would be high.”

“You’ve even become humble.”

Max took a step closer to Mason.

“Mason.”

With an aura as if he was about to pounce, Max asked Mason with a serious expression.

“Do you know when the registration for Teacher Ethan’s next class will open?”

“…What?”

“…The registration date, I’m asking.”

Mason looked at Max with a bewildered expression.

He thought Max had called him for something else.

“You called me to ask about the registration date? With that look on your face?”

“It’s important. I want to attend Teacher Ethan’s class. From what I’ve heard, the competition will be fierce. You must have insider information, right?”

He said with an awkward expression.

“Aren’t you Teacher Claudie’s disciple?”

He was curious if Max had discussed this with Teacher Claudie.

“Of course, I have to attend Teacher Claudie’s class. But there’s no rule that says I can’t also attend Teacher Ethan’s class. Teacher Claudie himself told me that since Teacher Ethan’s ‘Understanding the Sword Path’ class teaches in a different way from him, I should definitely take it.”

“Teacher Claudie said that…?”

Mason asked with a surprised look.

Max clicked his tongue briefly.

“You probably don’t have many good memories of Teacher Claudie, so it’s understandable that you see him negatively. But Teacher Claudie cares a lot about his students. He works hard for the development of his students and Ivecar Academy.”

“But there are too many excessive parts about him.”

“That’s just Teacher Claudie’s style.”

Max sighed.

He also knew that Teacher Claudie’s style was highly divisive among students.

But that was Claudie’s style.

Max had received a lot of help from Claudie and made it this far, so he didn’t think his teaching methods were bad.

“So, Mason.”

Max folded his arms and asked again.

“If you know the registration date for Teacher Ethan’s class, could you tell me?”

“Um…”

While it felt good that Ethan was gaining recognition, for some reason, he didn’t want to share the information with Max.

At the same time, he was quite curious about how Max would react to attending Ethan’s class.

“Alright, I’ll tell you.”

The competition for the department representative was already over. So he could consider Max an ally now, not a competitor.

“I’ll repay the favor.”

Max smiled as he said that.

After finishing organizing his office, Ethan immediately logged into [New World].

‘I left a message for Horus, and he replied right away, but…’

Apparently, since Hang Woo is a bigger god than Horus, he needed more time to think about it.

‘Well, he might refuse.’

If that happens, he could just watch Hang Woo’s videos with the likes he had accumulated.

Or he could subscribe to another god. He had collected quite a few likes after the observation class.

-You have become a new premium subscriber to Hang Woo!

As soon as Ethan entered New World, a notification popped up.

It said he had become a new premium subscriber to Hang Woo.

“This is how it should be.”

As a premium subscriber, it was his turn to post the promised subscription review. Ethan uploaded the subscription review video he had prepared.

The video mainly covered the application and utilization of Supreme Resilience.

Supreme Resilience, with its extremely high difficulty, could provide an absolute advantage in battles against multiple opponents.

Ethan immediately posted a subscription review centered on the application of Supreme Resilience.

“This one is quite difficult, so who knows how well they’ll like it.”

But the high difficulty was something the subscribers could figure out themselves.

Ethan saw his sparkling mailbox.

Upon checking, he had received replies from Heo Jun and Hercules, to whom he had previously left messages.

“Looks like positive messages saying they’ll consider it.”

-Thanks for the good suggestion, premium subscriber. I was actually quite interested in merchandise too, and I was thinking about what to make into merchandise…

-Subscriber! I was thinking the same thing! So I was planning to make a list of merchandise! I’ll send it to you once it’s done, so take a look!

Both gods had apparently been thinking about merchandise as well, and had sent quite lengthy replies.

In summary, both gods were planning to start selling merchandise soon.

“I’ll have to buy them as soon as they start selling.”

He was especially planning to purchase any installable merchandise that could be placed in his office.

Ethan first entered Hang Woo’s channel.

-You are now a [Premium Subscriber].

-You can now watch videos provided exclusively to [Premium Subscribers]!

As Ethan had proposed to Hang Woo, he could now watch all of Hang Woo’s videos for free.

“After meeting the Sword Saint, I clearly realized that my current state has too many dangerous factors.”

What if the one there wasn’t the Sword Saint, but the followers of the Moon?

Or what if there was someone else who had come to kill Ethan?

That would have been the end. With the Eye of Horus, he could see through all of the Sword Saint’s movements, but that was all he could do – just see through them.

He had no way to deal with it.

‘I might not have been able to block him even once and could have just died.’

He needed to become stronger.

Since it was difficult to accumulate mana with Extinction, he had to become stronger by increasing his skills, traits, or stats.

Currently, he was supplementing his lack of mana with Hero’s Breathing and Giant’s Strength.

If Hang Woo’s power was added to that, he could expect a definite synergy between the three.

‘The combination of those three traits will create an even greater synergy.’

Of course, Ethan hadn’t given up on mana.

If he couldn’t accumulate mana due to Extinction, he would use another method.

‘Whether that will work or not, I don’t know.’

After the midterms, he had to take action for his growth.

‘By the time of the departmental exchange event, I’ll definitely raise my specs.’

Ethan immediately clicked on the first video in Hang Woo’s channel.

It was a video teaching Counter-Radiance, the power representing Hang Woo.

-Greetings, subscribers. I am the god called Hang Woo, the Sleeping Great Spirit.

Ethan quickly skipped through the video to grasp its core.

While Hercules’ power accumulates through breathing, Hang Woo’s power accumulates through training.

-Innate strength certainly exists. But if you train that innate strength, you can gain endless power. Lifting a mountain starts with a single step. Train your body. Once this Counter-Radiance settles within your body, you can break through the limits of your body and lift a colossus!

Ding!

-Learned Counter-Radiance.

-Skill Added: Counter-Radiance (S)

Ethan learned a new skill.

It was the second of Hang Woo’s skills he learned after Supreme Resilience.

-This Counter-Radiance can uproot even mountains. It starts off weak but the more you train, the stronger the power becomes. So you must be wondering what kind of training method is required?

Hang Woo said that and then smiled.

“End the video here?”

As expected of a major god, he was quite skilled at leading viewers to purchase the next video.

“Well, it’s free for me anyway.”

Ethan chuckled and moved on to the next video.

-You have to push your body to its limits. It’s a bit of an extreme method, but you have to keep using your body, using it, and using it again.

There was a reason the difficulty was extremely high.

‘Even Supreme Resilience was like that.’

This Counter-Radiance was even more intense.

Push your body to its limits?

‘It won’t be easy to master, but if I do master it, I’ll be able to exert overwhelming power.’

Ethan checked through the rest of the videos as well.

They were basically about Counter-Radiance, and afterwards covered explanations on how to properly use Counter-Radiance.

“The training method is too difficult. That’s why the difficulty is extremely high.”

Many of the existing reviews for Hang Woo mentioned the difficulty.

It granted immense power, but to properly wield that immense power, one had to train endlessly.

‘It seems Counter-Radiance is even more difficult than Supreme Resilience.’

While Supreme Resilience was a difficult skill to utilize, once you got used to utilizing it properly, it wasn’t too hard to increase your proficiency.

But Counter-Radiance was the opposite.

Using it wasn’t too difficult, but increasing your proficiency with it was challenging.

“I should try using it right away.”

Ethan exited New World.

Conveniently, there was a special golem in one corner of his office. Standing in front of it, Ethan first clenched his fist.

Shaaaaaack-.

As he exerted his strength, the force of Counter-Radiance began to gather. It was an immense power he had never felt before.

-The power of Counter-Radiance settles into your hand.

An enormous power capable of uprooting mountains.

“Counter-Radiance.”

Ethan used Counter-Radiance against the special golem.

Kok-.

Kwaaaaaack-!

Instantly, the special golem’s body shook violently and flew back a great distance.

“Hmm.”

He definitely felt something.

But since he had just learned it, the force seemed a bit lacking.

“Then.”

Whooooosh-.

Ethan took a deep breath.

Hero’s Breathing activated, filling his entire body with vitality. On top of that, he exerted his strength again to activate Counter-Radiance as well.

Counter-Radiance combined with Hero’s Breathing.

It was the moment the powers of the strength-famous Hercules and Hang Woo’s Counter-Radiance merged.

Shaaaaaaaaack-!

“Oh.”

An astonishingly immense power gathered, enough to slightly surprise Ethan. Stepping forward, Ethan once again thrust his fist toward the special golem.

Kwang-!

This time, the special golem was utterly shattered amidst a thunderous boom.

“As expected, the synergy is good.”

The constantly active Giant’s Strength, combined with the Hero’s Breathing and Counter-Radiance.

Ethan’s strength had increased considerably, enough to shatter the special golem.

“I haven’t even built up any proficiency with Counter-Radiance yet.”

Once he mastered Counter-Radiance and Hero’s Breathing, he would be able to use this immense power stably.

“There is one issue, though.”

Ethan looked at his fist that had just expelled that force. The skin was torn and blood was dripping down.

His body couldn’t withstand that immense power.

“Improvements are needed.”

To exert such powerful strength, he would also need to build a body capable of enduring it.

Ethan drank a decoction to heal his wounds and sat at his desk.

“With two classes, I’ll need to prepare doubly for the midterms.”

From now on, he had to prepare for the midterm exams.

Author’s Thoughts

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