Monday morning.
I had sent a message to Seo Ye-in.
[Kim Ho: (Bam! Trumpet emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: ?]
[Seo Ye-in: (Groggy cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: What is it]
[Kim Ho: (Bam! Trumpet emoji)]
[Kim Ho: What else could it be]
[Kim Ho: It’s morning!]
[Seo Ye-in: (Collapsing cat emoji)]
[Kim Ho: No collapsing. Get up]
[Kim Ho: Time to eat]
[Seo Ye-in: (Rolling cat emoji)]
[Kim Ho: Get ready and come out]
Just judging by the messages, it seemed like she might ignore them and fall back asleep, but I knew from experience—
She usually follows through once pushed.
Sure enough, not long after, I saw a gray figure walking slowly from a distance.
I waited until Seo Ye-in got closer, then we headed to the student cafeteria together.
The breakfast menu was jam toast.
You’d spread a variety of fruit jams like strawberry, grape, and fig on small, palm-sized toasts.
While we were eating, I unintentionally overheard a conversation from the students sitting behind us.
– How much did you save up?
– Four hundred thousand. I squeezed out every last point.
– Honestly, I don’t know. We’re up against the Swordsmanship and White Magic clubs.
– Can’t we at least get one book?
Apparently, Seo Ye-in overheard the conversation too, because she tilted her head and gave me a curious look as if to ask, “What are they talking about?”
I replied casually.
“Probably the auction.”
“When?”
“This weekend.”
“…Our promised outing.”
Her gray eyes sparkled brightly.
I nodded without hesitation.
“Of course we’re going. We’ll check out the auction too, and if there’s something you like, we’ll buy it.”
“I’ve got money.”
Seo Ye-in pulled out a thick black card.
But I shook my head and mimicked Ahn Jeong-mi’s tone.
“Young miss, you can’t use a card there. Payments are only accepted in points.”
“I’ve got plenty of points too.”
Seo Ye-in showed me her accumulated points.
Around 110,000. It was far more than my 80,000.
Our total point earnings were similar, but the difference came from replay sales.
Back in the first semester, my reputation had been rock bottom.
Of course, even 110,000 wasn’t exactly a massive amount.
“You just heard, didn’t you? That senior said they saved up 400,000.”
“…Rich.”
“With 110,000, it might be a little short, don’t you think?”
“…A shame.”
Seo Ye-in nodded silently.
She seemed to coolly accept it, but there was a subtle hint of regret on her face.
So I gently offered a suggestion.
“How about it? Want me to lend you some?”
“You’ve got a lot of points?”
“Of course, tons.”
“How much?”
“Over a million.”
Though, of course, that would be after the strategy guide auction.
Seo Ye-in’s pupils widened slightly.
“So rich…!”
***
Duel battle class.
Lee Soo-dok casually dropped a bombshell announcement.
“There’s going to be a tournament.”
None of the students dared open their mouths in front of him. They only exchanged confused glances.
– …?
– Hey, did I hear that right?
– A tournament? Out of nowhere?
Regardless, Lee Soo-dok continued speaking at his own pace.
“It’ll be held in a month. All grades will compete to test their skills.”
– …!
– …!
That meant there was a chance of facing second- or third-years.
And he wasn’t done with the surprises.
“We’ve also invited outside guests, so there’ll be no shortage of spectators.”
At that, the students looked even more tense than when they first heard the words “tournament” and “all grades”.
The term “outside guests” could refer to graduates who had once attended Dragon Slayer Academy, or perhaps siblings, relatives, or even the parents of current students.
The boy seated diagonally looked visibly pale, and judging by his expression, it roughly translated to:
– I’m going to get beaten up by a third-year in front of my mom?
Other students seemed to share the same sentiment. Though in their cases, “mom” might have been replaced with someone else, the unease was just the same.
Just then, the honor student in the front row raised a hand.
“Um… I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Wouldn’t it be a disadvantage for us to go up against upperclassmen… given the difference in skill levels…?”
“I was just about to address that. To ensure a minimum level of fairness in the tournament, the following rules will be applied.”
Rules immediately appeared on the board.
RULE: [Fixed Zone (C)] [10 Slots]
“We’ll skip the explanation for the Fixed Zone; I’m sure you’re all familiar with it. If anyone needs a refresher, raise your hand now.”
“……”
Fortunately, no one had a memory bad enough to need a reminder.
The Fixed Zone rule meant that the rank of all skills, traits, and equipment would be fixed.
This time, it appeared to be fixed at rank C, matching the first-years.
“Now I’ll explain the slot system. You can register your own skills, traits, or equipment into each slot. In the tournament, you can only use what’s registered in those slots.”
Then, Lee Soo-dok added that what students chose to register was entirely up to them.
By default, a [Core] had to be equipped, so that left nine remaining slots.
They could create a balanced build with three skills, three traits, and three pieces of equipment.
Or, if they wanted to go extreme, they could load all nine slots with skills.
Though, they’d probably end up regretting that decision pretty quickly.
Lee Soo-dok swept his gaze across the class in case there were any questions.
But it seemed most of them understood, so he continued with the explanation.
“Also, the above rules apply to all duel battles and strategy battles before the tournament, including this week. You’ll have more than enough time to practice.”
“……”
“We’ll now begin this week’s duel battles.”
The rules and environment for the match appeared on the board.
MAP: [Random]
RULE: [Deathmatch] [Fixed Zone (C)] [10 Slots] [10-Minute Limit]
“It might look similar to previous duel battles, but it’ll feel very different. You’ll see for yourselves soon enough.”
With that, Lee Soo-dok wrapped up the class.
As the classroom instantly erupted into chatter, I checked the notification that had just arrived.
[Side Quest: 4th Week duel battles] (In Progress…)
▷ Objective: Complete 3 duel battle matches (- / 3)
▷ Deadline: ~ midnight on Sunday
▷ Reward: Varies based on performance
The rewards weren’t clearly stated, but my instincts as a veteran were tingling.
It’s about time they increased the number of slots, isn’t it?
For Copy, the maximum was 4 skill slots and 4 trait slots.
I had a feeling that one of them would be given as a reward for this side quest.
Of course, to get it, I’d probably need to win three times in a row and achieve the highest completion level.
So I said to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in,
“Shall we just wrap this up quickly?”
“I’m fine with that. I’ve been curious about these so-called slots myself.”
Even Seo Ye-in who was rarely one to show enthusiasm seemed eager. She was probably already thinking of spending the weekend relaxing once we were done.
“Let’s finish this.”
***
I headed to the arena with the two of them.
When I tapped my student ID on the terminal, a slightly different message from usual appeared.
[Please register your skills/traits/equipment.]
[You may register up to 10 items.]
▷ Skills: (None)
▷ Traits: (None)
▷ Equipment: (None)
I opened my status window first.
[Skills]
▷ Chillwind (C+)
▷ Wind Force (B+)
▷ Wind Barrier (B+)
▷ Wind Armor (C+)
▷ Spiral Explosion (B+)
▷ Inferno Fist (B)
▷ Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger (B)
▷ Ghost Dance
▷ Amplification (B)
▷ Enchantment (B)
▷ Hardship
▷ Mutual Destruction Eyes (C)
▷ Time Share (C)
▷ Copy – Skills [3/3]
1. Thief’s Step (B+)
2. Hummingbird (C)
3. Ice Wall (B)
[Traits]
▷ Core (B+)
▷ Monarch (A)
▷ Blessing of the West Wind
▷ Distortion
▷ Elemental Resistance (S)
▷ Poison Immunity
▷ Retro Recovery (S)
▷ Copy – Traits [3/3]
1. The Sovereign’s Crown
2. Time Resistance (S)
3. Delayed Pain
[Equipment]
▷ Deep-Root Sapling (A+)
▷ Fluffy Cloud Bracelet (A+)
▷ Cloud Stepper (A)
Naturally, the top priority was [Core].
Without it, I wouldn’t be able to use mana at all.
I had to choose starting from the highest priority, but honestly, this wasn’t really something up for debate.
I absolutely have to start with [Copy].
Within the [Slot] system, there was no other skill this broken.
It only took up one slot, yet I could freely use the six registered skills/traits it held.
To put it in one sentence:
Only I get 15 slots.
And if I picked up one more slot through a side quest, I’d be the only one with 16.
When you’re out there tirelessly fighting for world peace, sometimes these kinds of absurd advantages come your way.
The next priority, of course, was equipment.
I decided to take [Deep-Root Sapling] and [Fluffy Cloud Bracelet].
Each of them came with powerful skills. That was [Octopus Limbs] and [Fluffy], respectively.
Then I circled back to skills.
Time to grab some wind skills.
I registered [Wind Force] and [Spiral Explosion], two of my core combat skills.
Even though Spiral Explosion was technically a composite skill made by combining three different spells, it still only took up one slot.
With that, I’d say I’ve secured most of the essentials.
From here on, it’s a process of elimination.
[Amplification] had a fixed rank due to the fixed zone rule, so it was pointless.
Since I wouldn’t be doing any team battles, [Enchantment] was out too.
And prohibited skills were obviously off-limits.
Even [Elemental Resistance], which I usually rely on so much, dropped far down the priority list now that it was fixed at rank C.
Same went for the defensive spells.
I could usually dodge attacks anyway, and at rank C, there was no chance of large-scale attacks flying around.
That left the remaining utility skills and traits.
[Mutual Destruction Eyes] looks good.
And I would need [Poison Immunity] to deal with the poison penalty.
If I tried casting debuffs on the current second- and third-years, there was a good chance they would either resist it outright or shake it off instantly.
But in a world where we were limited to just 10 slots?
Debuff removal skills had relatively low priority, and even if I took some, it would probably be just one or two at most.
Which meant I could mess with my opponents all I wanted, no matter who they were.
Now there were only two slots left.
The remaining candidates were [Ghost Dance], [Distortion], and [Retro Recovery].
All of them offered near-invincible evasion or recovery.
The cooldown differences are the real issue.
[Ghost Dance] could be reused after just five minutes.
In contrast, [Distortion] had a one-day cooldown, and [Retro Recovery] took three days.
Even if the combo with [Pain Delay] was broken-level, with a three-day cooldown, it might as well be unusable.
So I decided to go with the first two.
To sum it all up, it looked like this:
[Slots (10/10)]
▷ Skills: Copy, Wind Force (C), Spiral Explosion (C), Mutual Destruction Eyes (C), Ghost Dance
▷ Traits: Core (C+), Poison Immunity, Distortion
▷ Equipment: Deep-Rooted Sapling (C), Fluffy Cloud Bracelet (C)
With that done, I turned to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in and asked,
“You two making good progress with your picks?”
“Not as many tough choices as I expected.”
Go Hyeon-woo had finished his equipment selection with just a single sword.
He had picked up the powerful utility skill [Ghost Dance], and the rest, he said, was filled with martial arts techniques from his sect.
Seo Ye-in, on the other hand, seemed to be having a much harder time deciding.
Especially when it came to equipment.
Her eyes kept moving between the magic gun, the bracelet, the pot, and her pair of shoes.
I offered a gentle suggestion.
“How about letting go of the shoes and the pot for now?”
“They’re precious.”
“I’m not saying throw them away. Just put them aside for a bit.”
The Immortal Pot was rated S-rank and came with some impressive options, but in the fixed zone, everything was set to C-rank.
She wouldn’t be able to rely on its usual defense stats.
After a bit more coaxing, Seo Ye-in finally stored the two items in her inventory and filled the remaining slots with her Gunslinger skills.
Leave a Reply