I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 427: Modern Civilization

We moved to an empty clearing in the beast-kin village for the match.

Word had spread about a match with outsiders - quite a crowd of beast-kin had gathered.

"Is that kid Sophia's chosen king candidate?"

"What do you mean 'that kid'? Show some respect."

"No way, I can't accept them as a candidate."

"But Sophia..."

Most beast-kin seemed unwilling to accept me.

To them, I was just some random outsider.

But their poor treatment didn't particularly bother me.

For now, I decided to focus on the match Sophia had arranged.

"This match will test the candidate's physical abilities. Please set aside personal feelings and judge only Han Gyeoul's physical capabilities."

The beast-kin who had shown kind eyes in the council stood in the center of the clearing.

She explained the rules to everyone while looking around:

Wilder would win if he could land a hit on me within five minutes.

"Wilder's not going easy?"

"They probably haven't even absorbed the blessing's power yet..."

"Seems they'll fight with just their own abilities, not the blessing."

The beast-kin kept discussing this "blessing."

I wasn't exactly sure what it was.

'Must be whatever made me a beast-kin...'

I'd have to ask about it properly later.

After stretching, I moved to the center at the kind beast-kin's call.

Wilder approached from the opposite side.

"Since Granny Sophia recommended you, I won't hold back - full power."

"Um..."

I'd prefer if he did hold back.

Though tension mounted as the match began, it wasn't like we were trying to kill each other.

For Sophia's sake, I decided to give it my all.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Wilder built up his energy.

At the same time, I slowed the world down.

Leaves floating on the wind froze mid-air, cheering spectators turned to statues.

In this seemingly frozen time, only my legs moved swiftly.

Pitter patter-

Though Wilder hadn't attacked yet, I started running around the clearing.

I planned to keep running like this for all five minutes.

As I ran, I kept watching around me - the beast-kin were just starting to show surprised expressions.

It was amusing seeing their reactions coming ten beats too late.

'I could probably move even faster.'

Should I increase my speed?

Just as I was drawing up more mana, I spotted Wilder lunging at me.

His main weapon seemed to be his sharp claws.

"Hup...!"

Face, stomach, and shoulders.

I dodged his sweeping claws by stepping backward, avoiding attacks aimed at my whole body.

Fortunately, Wilder seemed several levels below Encia or Argo.

"Wow! They're just walking backward to dodge!"

"What dodge...? I can't even see them..."

I analyzed the slow, drawn-out voices while weaving through Wilder's claw attacks.

Honestly, judging by his attacks so far, Wilder was too slow for me.

'Still, better not let my guard down.'

He probably hadn't used his trump card yet.

As I created distance to dodge Wilder's attacks, I spotted Gaeul running between us.

"Gaeul?"

In the slowed world, I could see

Gaeul's angry expression as she held a lemon in her hand.

"Yah!"

Gaeul threw the lemon in front of Wilder,

Then scampered over to me.

Wilder stopped in his tracks at the sudden situation.

I also stopped my slow-motion ability and looked at Gaeul.

"Gaeul, what's wrong?"

"Meanie!"

Gaeul swung her fist at Wilder angrily.

She didn't actually hit him, just punched the air.

She must have thought Wilder was bullying me,

Since he was the only one attacking.

"Gaeul, this isn't bullying - it's sparring."

"Spalling?"

"Yeah. Like practice fighting."

"......"

Gaeul wore a blank expression at my explanation.

Seeing this, Wilder raised both hands.

"I'm done."

"Um... but five minutes haven't passed..."

"Honestly, I don't think I can land a hit. Didn't expect you to be this fast."

Wilder trudged away from the clearing.

The crowd erupted in amazed cheers.

"Wow...! Did you see that?"

"No, I couldn't see anything..."

"They just dodged and Wilder couldn't land a single hit."

Some of the more aggressive beast-kin showed approval.

I'd heard beast-kin valued combat ability - it was fortunate to gain recognition in this crucial aspect.

...Though speed was really all I had.

"Wilder, do you understand now? Our Gyeoul has better qualities than any previous king."

Encia puffed out her chest like our children with an "ahem."

It felt good having her show such respect.

"...I'll acknowledge it. Their skills are quite something."

"Yaaay! King did it!"

"Shuin!"

At Wilder's acknowledgment, the children ran to me.

Levinas rubbed her cheeks against me while Gaeul hopped around.

Saebyeok patted my head saying "well done," and Bom clapped her hands.

"Hehe."

The children's praise felt good.

My tail wagged happily.

The bearded beast-kin from the council approached us.

"Indeed, your movement was incredible. But strength alone cannot lead the beast-kin."

"Yes... that's right."

"So let me ask - what kind of king do you wish to be?"

What kind of king...

After pondering, I recalled my conversation with Sophia.

"I just want to be a stepping stone."

"A stepping stone?"

"Yes. Beast-kin are isolated in a small world. They're closed off."

"That's to protect our kind from outside threats. Since this isn't our original world..."

"But because of that, the gap keeps widening. Humans are more numerous, stronger than beast-kin, and develop faster."

This would only make the gap grow larger.

Meaning beast-kin would become more vulnerable.

"Y-you're from human origins! Is that why you're taking their side?!"

"Y-yeah! You're making it sound like we beast-kin don't develop!"

Naturally, there was opposition.

But I wasn't scared, having prepared for this situation.

"Then we should show them human technology."

Sophia turned to Jung Yu-na.

Yu-na handed her magic bag to Choi Jinhyuk.

"Jinhyuk, we need to set up the generator. Can you do it?"

"Yeah. Electric generator?"

"Both mana and electric."

One by one, items from the human world emerged from Yu-na's magic bag.

Including the massage chair Sophia loved so much.

**

Before coming to the beast-kin village, we'd thought about what items they might like.

Gaeul had chosen the microwave.

Whirrr-

The microwave connected to the generator spun.

Gaeul spun in circles in front of it.

With a ding, the microwave produced warm milk.

The beast-kin, unfamiliar with human inventions, stared wide-eyed at the steaming cup of milk.

"It heats food without fire?"

"...It is convenient."

Beast-kin civilization was at the level of building wooden houses.

This was enough to amaze them, having never seen modern technology.

'So that's why Sophia called them old-fashioned.'

They'd neglected technology in favor of tradition.

It made me feel like an isekai manga protagonist.

-Ah, this is a machine for heating food~

"Hehe."

I sometimes watched those with Levinas.

While I chuckled at the amusing thought, Levinas was showing horned rabbit animations to beast-kin children nearby.

The few village children stared at the television as if entranced.

"Wow..."

"The pictures are moving!"

The adaptable children and younger generation took well to human technology.

However, the elderly beast-kin still kept their distance.

"Sophia, these items are fascinating, but I worry introducing them might destroy our traditions..."

"Stop worrying and try sitting in this chair."

Sophia seated the bearded beast-kin in the massage chair.

He looked confused by its unusual shape.

"What kind of chair is this?"

"A massage chair. You won't be able to resist."

"...I don't feel anything special."

"Just wait a moment."

Sophia connected the chair to the generator and pressed its button.

Meanwhile, the bearded beast-kin continued expressing his aversion to technology.

"Natural chairs are best. Fallen trees or soft grass-urk!"

Thump thump thump thump-

At the chair's pounding, the squinting beast-kin's eyes flew open.

He looked utterly shocked.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.