After making a request to the blacksmith club, I was on my way to the training center,
“Kim-hyung.”
When I ran into Go Hyeon-woo.
He was coming after finishing this week’s quota of duel battles.
I asked him as we walked side by side.
“How many wins?”
“Two wins.”
“As expected.”
It meant he had won every match except the one against me.
Well, Go Hyeon-woo wasn’t the type to lose to anyone else anyway.
We would see how things go once he entered the 900-point range for real.
The conversation naturally shifted to the duels we had together.
“So, how was it, fighting against Hong Yeon-hwa?”
“I knew Miss Hong’s skills were impressive. We had coordinated during the midterm exam, after all. Now that I faced her as an opponent, she really lives up to her reputation.”
Hong Yeon-hwa was a textbook example of a battery-style mage.
Given enough time, she would settle down in one spot and either bombard opponents with mid-level spells or quickly unleash large-scale magic Her firepower was truly overwhelming when she was allowed to build up.
“Win or lose, I wanted to experience it at least once.”
“I figured as much. If it were you, Kim-hyung, you would have won much more easily.”
“There’s nothing to really learn from fighting me, anyway.”
Wind mages themselves are rare, and the odds of fighting on terrain where you could fall to your death are almost nonexistent going forward.
On the other hand, since there were plenty of chances to face off against battery-style mages in the future, I had intentionally put Hong Yeon-hwa in the spotlight.
Go Hyeon-woo nodded his head and asked,
“Thanks to that, I learned a lot. But I’m curious, what’s your evaluation, Kim-hyung?”
“Well, for starters, your strategy was flawless.”
On the Cloud Stairs where movement was restricted, close-combat classes were at a huge disadvantage.
Despite that, Go Hyeon-woo kept leaping up the platforms and trying to close the distance with Hong Yeon-hwa, all while making sure Seo Ye-in faced less pressure.
In the end, Seo Ye-in’s magic bullets were blocked by a barrier but that was a different issue.
Even his last resort wasn’t bad.
When Hong Yeon-hwa was chanting her large-scale spell, Go Hyeon-woo immediately seized the opportunity and unleashed Clear Stream.
Although it was blocked in the end, it was the best decision he could have made at the time.
Go Hyeon-woo gave an awkward laugh.
“Haha, that’s too much praise. Were there any shortcomings?”
“If I had to nitpick, there was one thing.”
“Nitpick? Not at all, please feel free to say it.”
Most martial artists took great pride in the martial arts they had learned and were very sensitive to evaluations.
This was because an evaluation of their martial arts was also an evaluation of their sect and master.
Because of that, I approached the topic carefully and only brought it up once Go Hyeon-woo had given his approval.
“What kind of movement technique have you learned?”
“I’ve learned the Thousand Winds, Endless Step from my sect.”
Like his other martial arts, it was of a fairly high level.
You could tell just by watching how smoothly he extended forward with each step.
However, the issue that stood out was this:
“Your hands and feet aren’t in sync. When you use clear stream, your feet stop moving, and when you use your movement technique, your sword stops.”
When Hong Yeon-hwa had prepared her final move, Go Hyeon-woo made his first and last attack using Clear Stream.
After that, I had to detonate my Spiral Explosion in succession, forcing him into a one-way retreat. If he had been able to continue using Clear Stream while retreating, he might have been able to counterattack.
Go Hyeon-woo gave a bitter smile.
“As expected, I can’t fool your eyes, Kim-hyung.”
“So you already knew?”
“Yes, it’s something I’ve been struggling with.”
All of Go Hyeon-woo’s martial arts were at a high level, but that also made them difficult to master.
Right now, it was impossible for him to use both his sword techniques and his movement technique at the same time. Or even if he did, one would end up out of sync with the other.
For now, I decided to hold off on giving him an answer.
“There are a few ideas I have in mind, but I need to think about it a bit more.”
“If there’s even a slight chance, I’d like to give it a try.”
“Yeah, you won’t have to wait long.”
***
I trained in the Wind Barrier skill at the training center until evening.
Then when I started to feel hungry, I sent a message to Seo Ye-in.
[Kim Ho: (tap-tap cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: (peeking cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: (glaring cat emoji)]
[Kim Ho: Wanna grab food?]
[Seo Ye-in: …… ]
[Seo Ye-in: (glaring cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: (hiding cat emoji)]
[Kim Ho: Not coming?]
[Seo Ye-in: (peeking cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: Ok]
She’s less angry this time.
Last time, after I sent her flying across the sand with Wind Force, she didn’t even join me for breakfast the next day, so I guess it’s not that bad this time.
It’s probably because I focused more on supporting Hong Yeon-hwa with Wind Force rather than using it directly.
Still, she must’ve been bothered by something, because the first thing Seo Ye-in said when we met in front of the student cafeteria was,
“Kim Ho is unfair.”
“Why am I unfair?”
“Keep running away.”
It seemed she was annoyed that I kept bouncing around on the clouds and constantly slipping away.
No matter how much she chased me, the distance never seemed to close, and on top of that, she had to deal with Hong Yeon-hwa’s interference the entire time.
I asked her.
“Are you mad?”
“A little.”
“What can I do to make it up to you?”
“…….”
Seo Ye-in stared at me silently for a moment.
Then she reached into her inventory and began rummaging around before pulling something out.
That’s…
What she produced was a slightly dented, but now flattened, tin pot.
It was the prop we had used for Bullet Time training in that whack-a-mole game.
And there, imprinted on one side, was the outline of my head.
It was the “Kim Ho Pot”.
“You kept that?”
No wonder it was missing when I went to return it to the kitchen.
Seo Ye-in raised the Kim Ho Pot slightly.
“Just one hit.”
“No way, we agreed no hitting people with pots.”
“Just a light tap.”
Seo Ye-in raised the Kim Ho Pot a bit higher.
I reached out and grabbed the pot, knowing that if I allowed another clean hit, the Kim Ho Pot would truly become the “Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot”.
“Let’s put the dangerous thing down first.”
“……”
Seo Ye-in obediently let go of the Kim Ho Pot as I pulled it away, but she immediately extended her hand as if she were asking for it back.
As long as she doesn’t hit anyone, it should be fine.
With that in mind, I handed the Kim Ho Pot back to her.
After confirming that it had disappeared into her inventory, I took the lead and walked into the student cafeteria.
“Let’s eat something first and talk after.”
After all, people tend to be much more agreeable on a full stomach.
And it seemed my assumption was more or less correct this time too.
As we sat across from each other, picking up small round rice balls one by one, Seo Ye-in’s nearly full anger gauge slowly dwindled to empty.
After dinner, we rented a small student meeting room.
“Let’s talk to the butler together.”
“Mhmm.”
Not long after we reached out, Ahn Jeong-mi’s face appeared in the communication crystal ball.
Judging by the office background, she was working late again.
She bowed her head politely and asked,
“Kim Ho-nim, what brings you to contact me?”
“I want to give you some feedback on the duel battles of this week.”
When I pointed to Seo Ye-in and answered like that, there was a swift sound of something moving quickly on the other side of the crystal ball.
In the next moment, a writing tool appeared in Ahn Jeong-mi’s hand.
“Yes, please go ahead.”
I began to recount what had happened on the Cloud Stairs today.
Though exporting replays outside of the academy was against the rules, simply explaining it verbally fell into a gray area.
Besides, there was no need to explain everything in minute detail.
Only one thing mattered here.
Ahn Jeong-mi asked,
“Are you saying the young miss magic bullet was blocked?”
“I couldn’t finish it off.”
Seo Ye-in replied with a slightly disappointed tone.
I added more context.
“Yes, this time I reinforced my teammate’s barrier with an extra layer, but soon she will be learning another defensive spell, so the result will likely end up the same.”
“…….”
Ahn Jeong-mi’s gaze deepened.
Since Hong Yeon-hwa was a promising first-year student, the Second Future Strategy Office had also been keeping an eye on her.
In the last duel match in the volcanic zone, she had lost in a one-on-one with Seo Ye-in, but she quickly came back with improved defenses.
“Hong Yeon-hwa’s growth is quite amazing as well.”
“She’s a quick learner too.”
Of course, Ahn Jeong-mi already knew this.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s rapid improvement wasn’t just due to her natural growth rate; it was also thanks to the full support of the Ruby Magic Tower.
That was the point I wanted to make.
If they’re getting support, we can’t take them lightly.
Now that the Hye-seong Group’s heiress was showing enthusiasm, falling behind the rival faction due to lack of support? They wouldn’t stand for it, not with their pride on the line.
It’s not like the Hye-seong Group was short on money.
Ahn Jeong-mi asked calmly.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what Kim Ho-nim thinks.”
As a veteran marksman, she likely already had her own answer yet she still sought my opinion first.
Maybe there was a hint of testing in her question, but it was also out of respect for how well I’d guided Seo Ye-in so far.
I gave the prepared response.
“The most straightforward solution would be to raise her rank.”
Of course, this was not a solution that could be realized immediately.
Seo Ye-in’s Marksman skills were all stuck at C-rank.
No matter how much raw talent she had, breaking through the barrier to B-rank would take time.
Naturally, I didn’t bring up the topic of ranks just to end it there.
“Still, learning an additional bonus trait shouldn’t be too difficult.”
For example, the [Blessing of the West Wind] that I mastered provides a bonus to wind magic.
The Gunslinger class also had similar bonus traits, so I suggested having Seo Ye-in learn one of those.
Ahn Jeong-mi diligently took notes.
“I’ll prepare it right away. Is there anything else you’ve thought of?”
“Yes, how about learning a special bullet skill?”
As the name implied, these special bullet skills had special effects.
They ranged from piercing, explosion, shock, to cutting, and more.
For example, the bullet Ahn Jeong-mi had fired at the Blood Cult elder in the Black Market was a “shock” type special bullet.
There were several ways to manifest these:
1. Using a specialized magic gun.
2. Using special bullets.
3. Implementing it as a skill.
These were the most common methods.
However, since Seo Ye-in already had a suitable magic gun, getting a specialized one would be a waste, and using special bullets would be like throwing money into the dirt.
In life-or-death battles, money wouldn’t matter, but in a practical evaluation, it would seem a bit wasteful.
And beyond the cost-effect,
“As a Marksman, it’s worth learning at least one or two special bullet skills, isn’t it?”
“I agree. Do you have any particular types you would recommend?”
Ahn Jeong-mi asked but I passed the choice to Seo Ye-in.
I pulled up the list of special bullet skills and showed it to her.
“Pick one.”
“…….”
Her gray eyes slowly scanned the list.
Then, after a moment, she casually lifted her finger and pointed to one without hesitation.
“This one.”
Ahn Jeong-mi and I exchanged glances and nodded at the same time.
“That seems like a good choice.”
“You picked well.”
“We’ll prepare it right away and deliver it to you.”
As always, Ahn Jeong-mi ended the call with a polite farewell.
The next day,
“Kim Ho, Seo Ye-in.”
“Yes, senior-nim.”
“Here you go.”
A senior who seemed to be a scholarship student approached us and handed over a skill book and a rolled-up piece of parchment.
Hye-seong Group’s influence is terrifying.
They managed to get all of this, not in a day, but overnight.
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