The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become-Chapter 137: Acceleration (7)

“Huff... Almost there, damn it!!”

In the dimly lit cavern, a robed man emerged through a violet portal, stomping his staff angrily into the ground.

“...Did I fail?”

“Yes, it’s a failure.”

“It’s a failure.”

As torches flared up, multiple voices echoed in the cavern.

But—

The only figure standing in the cavern was the robed man.

The voices were coming from the swirling, colorful smoke suspended in midair.

“How many times has this been?”

“Another failure. Pathetic.”

“We’ve been at this for years, and we haven’t even implanted a single fragment of sin into them.”

The scathing evaluations poured from the smoke.

The robed man remained silent, taking in the criticisms.

Then suddenly...

“Shut up! You useless bastards who can’t do anything without me...!!”

He cursed loudly as he glanced around.

Of course, the responses weren’t kind.

“What, what did you say...!!”

“You think throwing a tantrum will cover up your failure?”

“Probably. Trying to hide his incompetence.”

An intense verbal exchange ensued.

The robed man sneered at the smoke.

“Are you introducing yourselves now? The ones who can’t do anything but scratch at my back, are you?”

The smoke instantly retaliated.

“Can’t do anything, huh... Joo Ho-seong, have you forgotten? We hold your life in our hands. Without us supplying you with life, you wouldn’t last a year.”

“Have you forgotten so quickly? The things that have happened up to now?”

“Isn’t the power you possess something we gave you in the first place?”

Joo Ho-seong.

The robed man was bombarded with numerous criticisms.

But Joo Ho-seong didn’t accept them.

“Yeah, I’m alive thanks to that power you’ve hidden. But... you’re too ignorant to realize that it delayed my growth and the completion of sin!”

“You blame us?”

“Of course! If you hadn’t hidden the power and just gave it all to me from the start, things would have been much better now. Seonghun wouldn’t have died, and I would have likely found the sin of lust by now.”

“It was a necessary precaution. If you hadn’t shown your claws and actively participated in the mission like this, we needed a safety mechanism to control you.”

“That’s right. And your assumptions are extreme. If I had received all the power from the start, I would’ve found the sin of lust... you say?”

“Extreme? You’ve been locked up here, so you wouldn’t know. I’ve seen who I’ve met.”

“...?”

“The inheritor of lust, Kang Hyunsoo.”

“...!!”

A sudden silence filled the cavern after Joo Ho-seong’s statement.

A moment later, the red smoke broke the silence and spoke.

“Didn’t you say that the inheritor of lust had not been discovered yet?”

“That’s right. But after closely observing the one who killed Seonghun, it was clear—he was the inheritor of lust. The original plan failed. So, we had to use the final method sooner than expected... but then a variable appeared.”

“A variable? What’s that?”

“Kang Hyunsoo was stronger than expected. You followed your orders and summoned the fallen Abyssal Overlord, but he arrived first, even interfering with the summoning ritual. Do you still think I’m incompetent? If you had trusted me from the start and given me all the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° power, I would’ve acted before he grew. No, I would’ve taken the seven deadly sins from the other inheritors first!!”

“...”

Joo Ho-seong’s passionate speech was met with silence from the smoke.

After hearing the whole story, they realized there was enough merit in Joo Ho-seong’s words.

Then, as if acknowledging their misjudgment, the smoke murmured among themselves before turning to Joo Ho-seong.

“So, what do you think is the remaining option?”

“A full-scale war.”

“A full-scale war?”

“We will use all available resources to release the beings trapped by the seven deadly sins and unleash them upon this world.”

“...!!”

“That method... didn’t you oppose it from the beginning? You said if the Abyssal beings were released, humanity would be destroyed.”

“That was back then. But... the situation has changed. Too much time has passed. If we continue like this, the sins will complete the divinity, and everything will be for nothing. If that happens, neither you, the remnants of the Abyss, nor I will be able to reign in this world.”

Joo Ho-seong picked up the staff he had thrown to the ground and continued, turning to the smoke.

“We’ll release the Abyssal monsters and eliminate all the inheritors of the sins. Then I’ll collect the sins and rise as the only god.”

“A bold plan!”

“It wasn’t just a failure. This is a leap into a new era!”

Did the remnants of the Abyss agree with Joo Ho-seong’s plan?

The red smoke swirled and cheered.

Of course, some were still skeptical.

“So give me all the power you’ve hidden. Free everything and I will definitely achieve immortality!”

“A magnificent resolve. But... didn’t you say your country, Korea, would be destroyed in the process?”

“I don’t care. This plot will unfold not only in Korea but in Japan, China, the US—everywhere simultaneously. And...”

“...?”

“Right now, humanity is at 8 billion. Even if only 100 million are left, I can still create the world I want. There will be plenty of slaves... If Korea is destroyed, I don’t care.”

A cold, chilling tone.

Joo Ho-seong’s eyes were unwavering.

The remnants of the Abyss were in awe of his resolve.

“For the sake of the goal, he’s willing to go to any lengths.”

“Seems like he’s truly accepted the power of the Abyss. It’s hard to find someone fit for it among humans.”

“Understood. We’ll reveal all the powers we’ve hidden.”

Impressed by Joo Ho-seong’s ambition, the remnants of the Abyss followed him.

“Good, then let’s speed this up. If we succeed...”

Joo Ho-seong smirked as he walked toward the violet portal that had appeared in the cavern.

“All of humanity will bow at our feet.”

***

Why Do Celebrities Usually Hide Themselves?

In his previous life, Kang Hyunsoo had always found this question puzzling.

When observing the daily lives of handsome and beautiful celebrities, he noticed how they always tried to minimize their exposure by wearing masks or hats. Even when meeting others, they would choose private places like a friend’s house or a restaurant with private rooms.

Of course, he understood part of the reason.

It was because their privacy was often invaded by people recognizing them.

However, in his previous life, Kang Hyunsoo hadn’t been able to fully empathize.

Even after becoming the Sword Emperor and solving major incidents that made him famous, he didn’t feel that his daily life was particularly disrupted.

Occasionally, when walking down the street, he would hear whispers like, “Wow, isn’t that the Sword Emperor? He’s so ugly!” or “Shh! Keep your voice down. He might kill us!” But as time went on, fewer people dared to approach him directly.

Now, however, with his newfound good looks and the global fame he had gained from the Strongest Swordsmanship Tournament...

He finally began to understand how those celebrities felt.

“Wow! He’s insanely handsome. Is that even a human face?”

“He looks like he’s from a different species! And his face is so small!!”

“Hey, come to the intersection! Kang Hyunsoo is here!!”

At Apgujeong Intersection, the streets were overflowing with people.

It wasn’t a place that usually saw such massive crowds, but today, everyone had gathered just to see him.

‘There are so many people. Swallow, can you check if there’s an open space?’

Over here, Master! There’s a quiet alleyway!The crowd was so dense that it spilled over from the sidewalks onto the road.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Kang Hyunsoo looked toward the path Swallow had pointed out and decided to act.

[Activated]

[Skill: Appearance (A) - Instantly teleports to an empty space within the user’s line of sight. Consumes 300 mana. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

Using the skill embedded in the Space Mage’s ring, Kang Hyunsoo made a swift escape.

The citizens, bewildered, looked around in confusion.

“Huh! He—he disappeared!!”

“Huh? Where did he go?”

“Aww, I was going to ask for an autograph...”

“Over there! He’s over there!!”

“What the—? Did he teleport?”

As Kang Hyunsoo vanished, the citizens’ mouths dropped open in surprise.

But the shock didn’t last long.

The citizens resumed chasing after him.

There wasn’t any particular reason. They just wanted to see him in person and take pictures.

Like mindless monsters drawn to a lure, they blindly followed him.

The best way to handle this would have been to avoid appearing altogether, as other celebrities did. But Kang Hyunsoo couldn’t do that.

The very reason he had come here was...

[Absolute Beauty Quest 17]

[True beauty is something that makes others admire you.]

[Receive compliments about how handsome you are from 1,000 strangers (728/1,000).]

It was to complete the newly assigned Absolute Beauty Quest.

When Kang Hyunsoo first received this quest, he had been worried about whether he could actually complete it.

He remembered how he had almost failed a previous quest where he had to get a phone number from a stranger.

But now, being told to hear how handsome he was from 1,000 strangers... It seemed nearly impossible.

Yet...

[Receive compliments about how handsome you are from 1,000 strangers (788/1,000).]

The reality was the complete opposite of what he had expected.

It was so much easier than he thought.

In Apgujeong, filled with random passersby, within an hour, over 300 people had already told him how handsome he was.

And they weren’t paid to do it either.

This was a completely different experience from his previous life, where he had been ridiculed and looked down upon.

No, even in this life, he had never experienced a reaction like this before.

Perhaps it was because of the “Handsome” title he had gained, or maybe it was due to his growing fame, but everyone he encountered would compliment his looks.

So, with a happy heart, Kang Hyunsoo greeted each person with a smile, shook hands, and even took pictures with them, thanking them.

But then, the crowd began to swell.

From passersby to people who saw online posts about him, a massive mob quickly formed around him.

Before the situation got completely out of hand, Kang Hyunsoo used Appearance to escape to a quiet alley. But then, an unexpected variable arose.

“Hyunsoo Oppa! I’m a fan! Could you sign something for me?”

“Me too!!”

Among the crowd were hunters.

As soon as Kang Hyunsoo had disappeared, they had persistently followed him.

Facing half a dozen hunters blocking his path, Kang Hyunsoo said:

“I’m sorry. There are too many people, so I don’t think I can do autographs.”

“Then can we at least take a picture...!!”

“I watched all of the swordsmanship tournament live! I even commented on all your videos! I’m a true fan!”

The people blocking his path.

If they had been monsters, he would’ve taken them down immediately, but this was different.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

Appearance was still on cooldown, and since they were hunters, they could continue to track him.

‘Then... I guess I’ll have to use this.’

[Activated]

[Beauty Skill: Reality Awareness (A)]

Kang Hyunsoo turned to the women, opened his palm, and activated the skill.