Blink is, after all, a space-type magic.
Cases like mine, where someone uses it immediately after learning it, are extremely rare.
Normally, it’s only used in real combat after extensive practice and repetition over a long period of time.
So it was no surprise she crashed into the wall when she used it recklessly.
Even after some time had passed, Song Cheon-hye still had her face buried in her hands.
Then I spoke to her.
“Excuse me, could you get up?”
“……”
“Ma’am, are you alright?”
“Noch’all… (Not at all)…”
“That’s why you should’ve been honest. Why’d you insist and end up slamming into the wall?”
“Shush’up…(Shut up)…”
“Want me to be nice and say we’re tied for first?”
Crackle!
I quickly sidestepped as a spark of electricity shot past me.
“Whoa there, why the sudden violence? We both know you’d never actually hit me.”
“Do’tese me (Don’t tease me).”
“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you. Anyway, shouldn’t we get ready for class?”
“……”
Instead of answering, Song Cheon-hye just waved a hand dismissively.
“You want us to go ahead without you?”
– Nod, nod.
She didn’t seem seriously hurt.
She probably just wanted some time alone.
Since I could understand how she felt, we left her there and went on ahead.
***
Later…
Song Cheon-hye showed up in class with a small bandage on her forehead.
Well after the lesson had already started.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“……”
It wasn’t something that happened often, so Professor Lee Soo-dok gave her a curious look.
But thanks to her reputation as a top student, he seemed willing to let it slide.
“Take your seat.”
“Yes.”
Glancing at her briefly as she walked to her seat, Professor Lee resumed the lecture.
“I reviewed the midterm stats by grade. Most of it was as expected, but there were some impressive results too. For example, the number of Draconic Soldier kills…first-years far outperformed the second-years.”
As he said that, he glanced briefly in my direction with a look that said, “Was it you?”
Since I had no reason to hide it, I gave a slight nod, confirming it. At that, Lee Soo-dok’s scarred face twisted into a grin.
From experience, I knew that was how he smiled when he found something amusing. But to those who didn’t know better, it probably just looked menacing.
The classroom atmosphere turned noticeably colder as Lee Soo-dok continued.
“Of course, some of you were way below expectations. I’m talking about the ones who dropped out on Day 1 or Day 2.”
– …..
A few students lowered their gazes, but Lee Soo-dok looked at each one as if he already knew exactly who they were.
Then, returning to a more neutral tone, he said,
“Regret is pointless after the fact, but it’s still worth identifying the cause.”
Only by addressing your shortcomings can you handle similar situations more smoothly in the future.
Just then, an illustration of a Draconic Soldier appeared on the board.
“As those of you who’ve fought them know, battles against these things were always unfavorable.”
A mid-tier first-year could take one down one-on-one, but those things rarely moved alone.
They used tactics like hiding among monster swarms and launching surprise attacks and many students were eliminated on the first day because of that.
Next, illustrations of Draconic Fangs and Draconic Claws appeared.
“With these guys, it was the opposite. You had to team up to take them down.”
Each individual was stronger than most first-years, and even if you ganged up on one, there was no guarantee you’d win. And even if you did, the cost was high.
Lee Soo-dok continued.
“In real combat, enemies won’t politely fight you one-on-one. The reverse is also true.”
If your team lacks individual strength, it’s smarter to overwhelm the enemy with numbers to minimize losses than to insist on fairness.
Which is why both receiving and executing joint attacks are extremely common.
“And this week’s combat exercise simulates exactly those scenarios.”
The board erased the illustrations and displayed the rules and environment.
MAP: [Urban Area]
RULE: [4 vs. 1] [Random Matching] [4-Minute Time Limit]
“Regardless of your current score, four people will be randomly grouped into an ‘attack team’. If they manage to defeat one ‘defender’ within the time limit, they win.”
If the defender survives for the entire time, it counts as a loss for the attackers.
A 4-minute limit is a rule that favors the defender.
Normally, they’d all be wiped out within ten minutes, so the time limit was cut by more than half.
Of course, even that alone didn’t make things balanced.
But shortening the time any further would just end the match before anything could even happen.
So, they’d prepared an additional mechanism.
“The defending side will receive an overall rank adjustment.”
They’d get bonuses to their skills and traits, and some would even be boosted by a full rank.
In other words, mid-tier first-years would be given specs close to top-tier promising students.
“Additionally, a special shield equal to 5% of their total health will be granted. It regenerates fairly quickly, so keep that in mind.”
If you’re only dealing 1% or 2% damage at a time, you’ll just be pounding away at the shield endlessly.
To actually deal damage, everyone needs to launch an all-out attack in a short burst.
Now that things finally seemed somewhat balanced, student opinions were almost evenly split.
– This makes defending feel doable, doesn’t it?
– I still think I’d be more comfortable attacking. Being chased by four people sounds rough.
– I dunno. It won’t be as easy as it sounds.
Sure, the attackers had the numbers, but they were under time pressure.
Meanwhile, the defender only had to hold out for four minutes, backed by a rank boost and a regenerating shield.
Just as the debate was about to heat up, Lee Soo-dok’s eyes flashed sharply.
The classroom instantly fell silent, as if someone had flipped a switch.
“Save the discussion for later. We don’t have much time left anyway.”
– ….
“There are more than a few of you who think joint attacks are just about charging in. This is a good opportunity to think more deeply about it.”
If you blindly spam your skills without thinking, you’ll end up getting in your teammates’ way or even harming them.
Then, even with four people, your team will barely be as effective as two or three.
On the other hand, if you coordinate well, you can exceed the power of just four individuals.
Because joint attacks can cover each person’s individual weaknesses.
Of course, the school probably doesn’t expect you to get that far.
It’s just a one-week duel battle training, after all.
For now, just not getting in each other’s way is probably good enough.
That’s also why they added the [Random Matching] rule and grouped inexperienced students together.
They must be trying to build versatility.
To train you to function as a component in the machine, no matter what team you’re thrown into.
As I was thinking this, two alert messages popped up in one corner of my vision:
[Side Quest: 13th Week Duel Battle] (In Progress…)
▷ Objective: Complete 2 Duel Battle Matches (-/2)
▷ Reward: Varies based on achievement
[Would you like to use the ‘Challenge Book’?]
[Accept / Decline]
Of course I’ll accept.
That’s exactly why I’d spent the weekend running around so much.
As soon as I selected “Accept” the quest updated.
[Side Quest: 13th Week Duel Battle] (In Progress…)
▷ Defender role fixed; rank bonus and shield disabled
▷ Traits disabled: Retro-Recovery, Pain Delay
▷ Objective 1: Win with over 90% health remaining (0/2 times)
▷ Objective 2: Defeat enemies (0/2)
▷ Reward: Varies based on achievement
Being fixed as a defender meant I’d be matched into the 1-on-4 role no matter what.
And with all the balancing features removed, I’d have to face four opponents relying entirely on my own specs.
Even the health condition is tough.
If this were a “Handicap Book”, they might’ve let it slide at 75%, but since it’s a Challenge Book, the bar’s much higher.
They even locked out the [Pain Delay] + [Retro-Recovery] combo to stop me from cheesing the system.
And now they’ve added a kill requirement too.
As if reading my mind, they preemptively blocked the “Kim Ho’s Ultimate Stall-and-Runaway Tactic”.
I had to take down at least two opponents, which meant averaging at least one per match.
If I wanted better rewards, I’d have to work harder.
No idea how tough this is gonna be.
It would probably depend on matchups.
If I got matched against four Shin Byeong-cheol types, it’d be a free win. But if it was four top prospects, I was in for a rough ride.
There was no way to tell just yet, so I decided to queue up first.
I headed to the arena and scanned my student ID at the terminal.
While waiting, I threw a question to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.
“Which do you guys prefer. Attacking as a group or defending solo?”
It would be random anyway, but I was asking just for fun.
Go Hyeon-woo smiled brightly.
“I’m good with either. Facing many on my own sounds like a great learning experience, but coordinating with a team also seems fun.”
Seo Ye-in thought about it for a moment before replying.
“…Defending?”
“Why?”
“Stronger.”
“You mean with the rank boosts, right?”
“Mhmm.”
“And what would you do once you’re stronger?”
“Wipe them out.”
I expected her to lean toward joining an attack team and taking it easy, but her answer was surprisingly aggressive.
Guess that growing confidence in her skills had something to do with it.
Well, we’d see how it played out soon enough.
Before long, my name popped up on the scoreboard.
[Kim Ho – 1,038 points]
vs
[Baek Jun-seok – 581 points]
[Kwak Ji-cheol – 767 points]
[Dam Dae-han – 780 points]
[Lee Seul-bi – 940 points]
No one here’s on Byeong-cheol’s level.
I was hoping at least one of them would be, but unfortunately, even the lowest Baek Jun-seok was pushing 600 points.
Still, with only one of them in the 900s, I guess it could’ve been worse.
I turned to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.
“I’m heading in first. Catch you after.”
“Best of luck to you.”
“Good luck.”
Leaving their cheers behind, I stepped onto the teleportation magic circle.
In the next instant, a cityscape unfolded before my eyes.
Rows of one- and two-story buildings lined the street, with a main road cutting through the middle.
It’s almost exactly like Craft Haven.
They must’ve designed it this way to simulate a battle against draconic soldiers.
Soon, the four members of the attack team appeared one by one from the teleportation circle across from me.
I looked over them, trying to guess their classes.
No need to worry about Kwak Ji-cheol or Baek Jun-seok.
I already knew enough about their skills. One was a mage from the Emerald Tower, the other a sword-and-shield knight.
Dam Dae-han wore gauntlets on both hands, so he was probably a martial artist.
As for Lee Seul-bi, I remembered briefly seeing her during the infiltration of the temporary storage and again when I visited the disciplinary committee.
She used to belong to the Sapphire Tower, if I recalled correctly.
So, in summary: two melee fighters and two mages.
A fairly well-balanced lineup.
They too were focused on me, chatting amongst themselves.
Looked like they were sharing intel and coming up with a quick plan.
Meanwhile, Kwak Ji-cheol’s face was a mix of emotions. He clearly wasn’t thrilled about facing me.
Well, considering everything I’d done to him and everything he’d seen, I couldn’t blame him.
Our eyes happened to meet, and I gave him the friendliest wave I could muster.
From a fair distance, I gestured out the word “message” with my hands and feet.
Kwak Ji-cheol finally got the hint and checked his messages.
[Kim Ho: yo]
[Kwak Ji-cheol: what]
[Kim Ho: this match]
[Kim Ho: can we keep it private?]
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