An awkward tension hung in the air.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes darted around as she kept her mouth covered.
I leaned in as if I hadn’t heard her properly and asked,
“What did you say it was time for?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“I could’ve sworn you said something about a kiss.”
“Stop teasing me…”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s face gradually turned red.
From a mental-care standpoint, the best thing would have been to pretend I hadn’t heard anything and let it slide, but right now, I needed to get a better grasp of the side effects.
I might get my hands on more 001s later, and there was a good chance 002 and 003 would come with similar side effects.
So I kept asking questions.
“How long have you been thinking about kissing me?”
“I… um…”
“Since the Fixed Zone tournament? Finals? Winter break?”
“Nooo…”
“Then did it just come out? Something you didn’t actually mean?”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been practically bursting with embarrassment, suddenly turned serious and looked me straight in the eye.
“It’s not something I don’t mean. I do want to kiss—Mmph!”
Then she clapped both hands over her mouth again.
Her face had instantly turned as red as her hair.
Apparently unable to endure the embarrassment any longer, she stammered,
“I-I’ll go on a-ahead…!”
Then she used Blink to teleport a good distance away before taking off at full speed.
Watching her go, I asked Shin Byeong-cheol,
“Were you like that too?”
“Pretty much. I voiced my desires without the slightest restraint.”
“You said you wanted a full head of hair?”
“I said I wanted to be rich, you rude bastard.”
“I see. I’ll stop teasing you.”
“…Still, that was a stronger reaction than I expected. I’m not sure we’ll be able to promote this properly.”
A worried look crossed his face.
The verbal slips seemed similar, but Hong Yeon-hwa’s tolerance for embarrassment was much lower than he had expected.
The side effects would naturally wear off with time, but the embarrassing memories would keep piling up.
And later, there was a good chance anger would take their place.
The next time she saw him, forget promoting the potion… she might start by hurling a fireball at him.
But I answered without concern.
“We should still promote it. We got something in return, after all.”
“Right? That’s what I thought.”
“I’ll talk to her about it.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I’ll put my faith in you, boss.”
Shin Byeong-cheol left with a broad grin on his face, and I turned to Seo Ye-in next.
“Those side effects seem awfully familiar, don’t they?”
“Extremely familiar.”
Actually, it went beyond familiarity. I’d been one of the victims.
So I sent a message to Suspect No. 001.
[Kim Ho: Are you making anything these days?]
[Dang Eun-bi: No?]
Her reply came back within seconds.
Sure looks like you are.
Then again, if she really was Shin Byeong-cheol’s business partner, there was no way she’d admit it that easily.
He’d probably told her to keep quiet about it too.
Should I dig a little deeper?
She was still a freshman and inexperienced with the scheming ways of the world, so if I kept throwing questions at her, she might eventually let something slip.
Another option was to ask through Dang Gyu-ri.
She’d probably be more honest with her than she was with me, at least.
But I changed my mind.
Let’s leave it alone for now.
I didn’t see any real need to get involved.
They didn’t seem to be short on materials, and the finished product was already plenty broken as it was.
Adding my stagnant water knowledge would undoubtedly help improve their skills, but at the same time, it could also stifle their creativity.
If that happened, I’d essentially be killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
So I wrapped up the conversation on a friendly note.
[Kim Ho: All right. Let me know if you run into any trouble.]
[Dang Eun-bi: I will.]
[Dang Eun-bi: Thank you.]
***
Hong Yeon-hwa spent the entire time with her head buried on her desk.
Even after Lee Soo-dok entered the classroom and duel battle class began.
She must be really embarrassed.
Every now and then, she would peek at me from between her arms, only to duck back down the instant our eyes met.
“……”
Lee Soo-dok seemed to notice as well, but he didn’t appear particularly concerned.
Hong Yeon-hwa was usually a model student, so he probably figured she was entitled to have an off day once in a while.
He mostly ignored her and continued the lesson.
“I trust you remember hostile environments, unless you have the memory of a goldfish.”
Of course, there was no way we could forget.
After all, nearly half of our first-year practical evaluations had taken place in hostile environments.
Some representative examples were swamps filled with poisonous fumes and glacial regions where biting cold tore at your flesh.
“Environments like these create battlefields that put intruders at a disadvantage while favoring those who live there. Last year’s final exam is a good example.”
The Flame Dragon’s Nest.
The students had been forced to dodge flowing lava and fireballs that came flying at them at every turn, and whenever the volcano erupted, they had to stay at their base whenever possible.
For the monsters, on the other hand, it was their natural habitat. They became more active there, and some of them even received buffs.
“That’s a case where monsters adapted to a naturally occurring environment have settled there. On the other hand, there are also artificially created environments.”
Lee Soo-dok added that the latter would be the focus of today’s lesson.
He lightly waved a hand toward the blackboard, and a single word appeared.
[Curse]
“One very common method is to place a curse over an entire area. It can reduce physical abilities, lower the ranks of certain skills and traits, and in extreme cases, even seal them entirely.”
– ……
By this point, it was obvious what this week’s duel battle matches would involve, and every student wore a look of disgust.
Naturally, Lee Soo-dok paid no attention to their reaction.
“Avoiding such areas whenever possible is the best course of action, but there will often be times when you have no choice. Are you going to give up every time that happens?”
For example, if one of your teammates had been dragged inside, or if the enemy was preparing some large-scale spell.
If you needed to stop them as quickly as possible.
Then you had no choice but to enter, even if the battlefield put you at a disadvantage.
“To develop your ability to deal with situations like these, some of your skills and traits will be sealed during this week’s duel battle matches.”
A moment later, the rules and environment appeared on the blackboard.
MAP: [Random]
RULE: [Deathmatch] [Lock*3]
[2vs2] [10-Minute Limit]
As the lock and the number three suggested, three skills or traits would be sealed.
For the moment, most of the students looked like they were thinking, “That doesn’t sound too bad.” After all, most of them had dozens of skills and traits.
They seemed to think they would be fine as long as nothing important got hit.
Of course, there was no way the academy hadn’t accounted for that, nor would they make things that easy.
“Priority will be given to those with high usage rates or high ranks. For reference, anything fundamental to your class will be excluded.”
In other words, things like a Marksman’s [Magic Bullet] or a martial artist’s [Swordsmanship] wouldn’t be touched.
Of course, that only meant the skills and traits that played a major role in their builds were even more likely to be sealed.
Then again, that was the only way this week’s rules would have any real meaning.
“……!”
By this point, the students’ faces were filled with anxiety.
They had no way of knowing whether they were about to lose an arm or a leg, so it was only natural.
Lee Soo-dok then added, as though he were doing them a favor,
“For reference, [Lock] applies to both sides. The key will be who can adapt faster and gain the upper hand under unfavorable circumstances.”
– ……!
“I’d also like to emphasize teamwork. It’s the only way to cover for each other while you’re weakened.”
That meant predicting what might be sealed and finding a suitable teammate accordingly would also be a viable strategy.
As the lesson continued, notification messages appeared at the edge of my vision.
[Side Quest: 4th and 5th Duel Battle Week] (In Progress…)
▷Objective: Complete 3 duel battle matches (-/3)
▷Reward: Varies based on achievement level
[Would you like to use the ‘Challenge Book’?]
[Accept/Decline]
Naturally, I chose Accept.
But unlike usual, the quest didn’t update immediately. Instead, another notification appeared.
[Please select a difficulty.]
1. Challenger
2. Super-Duper Hardcore
Had a feeling this would show up.
“Challenger” was the standard difficulty when using the Challenge Book, and most people already struggled plenty with that.
And as the name suggested, “Super-Duper Hardcore” took things one step beyond Challenger.
Considering this week’s duel battle rules,
They’ll probably add more Locks.
The original three would likely increase to at least five, maybe even eight.
My fighting power would plummet accordingly.
But am I really going to settle for Challenger?
When there was an even more super-duper reward waiting for me?
As a stagnant water player, I simply couldn’t allow that.
So I boldly selected option two, and the quest updated.
[Side Quest: 4th and 5th Duel Battle Week] (In Progress…)
▷Objective: Win 3 duel battle matches (-/3)
▷Condition 1: Number of Locks increased from 3 → 10
▷Condition 2: Complete each match with a different teammate
▷Reward: Varies based on achievement level
Ten is definitely a lot.
At that point, nearly all of my S-ranks would be locked down, and odds were I wouldn’t even be able to use Wind Force.
And they made sure I can’t just get carried, either.
Most students could account for the handicap, put together one solid team, and play all three matches with it. But I had to find a different teammate for every match.
In other words, I could only team up with Seo Ye-in once.
I’ll just have to pick my teammates well and find a way to make it work.
While I was thinking that, I felt Song Cheon-hye’s gaze on me.
She kept sneaking glances my way while pretending otherwise, seemingly mulling something over. It was obvious enough that it had to be about the duel battle matches.
She probably wanted to ask me to pair up with her.
But bringing it up herself seemed to hurt her pride a little.
And she was also conscious of the people around us, especially Hong Yeon-hwa sitting diagonally across from her.
So I waited to see what she would do. After thinking it over for quite a while, Song Cheon-hye finally seemed to make up her mind.
She turned toward me and said,
“Um, you know…”
But just then, Hong Yeon-hwa shot up from where she had been lying on her desk.
She stared straight at me as well.
“I want you to think of me first. Before her, and before Seo Ye-in or Senior Dang Gyu-ri too.”
It was practically a public confession, and she’d said it loudly enough for everyone to hear, sending the classroom into an uproar.
Song Cheon-hye froze with her mouth slightly open, apparently at a loss for words, while Mo Yong-jun and Jeong Jin-myeong looked on in admiration.
Meanwhile, Cha Hyeon-joo in the seat behind us was silently mouthing, “What a fucking mess.”
Needless to say, Hong Yeon-hwa’s face had once again turned as red as a ripe apple.
“That’s not what I meant. It’s the po, po, potion’s s-side effects again…”
That guy said the effects lasted about half a day, and apparently they were still going strong even though class was over.
She soon pulled out her wand with a trembling hand, seemingly intending to use Blink and escape like she had earlier.
But before Hong Yeon-hwa could cast the spell, I grabbed her hand.
Then I grinned and made her an offer.
“Then want to pair up for the first match? You’ll be first.”
“…….!”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes widened. Then she lowered her head and answered in a tiny voice.
“…Mhmm.”
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