Monday.
Seo Ye-in messaged me early in the morning.
[Seo Ye-in: (Teacher cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: Awake]
[Kim Ho: (Shocked! Cat emoji)]
[Kim Ho: Already?]
[Seo Ye-in: Morning training]
[Seo Ye-in: (Fired-up cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: Help]
Well, would you look at that? There comes a day when the human sloth gets up for morning training.
If Ahn Jeong-mi heard this, she’d probably tear up with emotion.
Of course, I was just as pleased, so I gladly agreed to help.
Soon, we headed to the special training room—
A facility that can create more diverse environments than a regular training room.
For example: 90% cooldown reduction.
The purpose was to use [Spatial Fold] more frequently.
Thump—! Thump—!
Repeated firing sounds echoed from the elongated barrel of a rifle.
A blue thread linked to the scarecrow’s forehead, and its upper body bent backward before snapping back like a punching dummy.
Thump—!
Sometimes the blue thread broke mid-air, but the scarecrow still bent back.
That meant Spatial Fold was activating.
“Feels doable even with a magic rifle, right?”
“MHMM.”
She had started off practicing with relatively slow fireballs, but now that she had built up enough mastery, she had moved on to magic rounds.
Thump—! Thump—!
Seo Ye-in pulled the trigger a few more times, then glanced up into the air and released her stance.
“…It went up.”
“Your rank?”
– Nod.
Even though it’s a spatial-type skill, its rank was climbing fast.
Probably thanks to Seo Ye-in’s natural talent and her motivated training.
Guess I’ll update mine too.
[Activated ‘Copy-Skill’.]
[The target’s skill ‘Spatial Fold (D)’ has been registered to the slot.]
▷Copy – Skill [4/4]
1. Feather Step (B+)
2. Spatial Fold (D)
3. Ice Wall (B)
4. Vendetta (S)
“Want to keep going?”
As I dismissed the status window and asked, Seo Ye-in stared at the scarecrow for a moment, then shook her head.
“…I’m hungry.”
“Yeah, we’ve done enough for now.”
We headed straight to the student cafeteria and took care of breakfast with a simple meal.
Afterward, we were leisurely walking toward the classroom when a familiar female student waved us over.
She was a third-year and a Hye-seong Group scholarship student. One of our upperclassmen.
“Come here for a moment.”
“……”
Seo Ye-in started rummaging through her inventory, maybe thinking she was supposed to return the special training room pass, but the upperclassman held up a hand to stop her.
“That’s not why I came. I’ve got something to give you.”
She then handed over a book with a soft, glowing aura.
[Skill Book – Trap Toss]
She finally got it.
From the recent duel battle match, it was clear that Seo Ye-in’s biggest weakness was her movement speed.
[Feather Step] alone wasn’t enough to shake off approaching enemies, so she needed either a secondary mobility skill or a trap-type skill to disrupt opponents.
But most of those are high-tier or extremely rare, and even the Hye-seong Group had struggled to track one down. It had taken them weeks to finally secure a copy.
Seo Ye-in bowed her head.
“Thank you.”
“Sure, make good use of it.”
As soon as she delivered the item, the upperclassman casually turned to leave.
Watching her walk away, I spoke up.
“You should use it right away.”
“Mhmm.”
Fwoosh!
The skill book burst into particles of light and was absorbed into Seo Ye-in’s body.
[You have learned ‘Trap Toss (F)’.]
Trap Toss. Just like the name suggests, it’s a skill that lets you throw traps.
Normally, traps require setup time at a fixed location, but with Trap Toss, freedom of placement increases dramatically.
You can prep the trap while moving, then throw it to a target location to set it up.
Whether tossed right at your feet or far away, it’s completely up to the user.
“……”
Seo Ye-in’s head subtly turned toward the training center.
She must’ve been eager to try out the new skill she just learned.
But I placed my hand on the gray crown of her head and gently turned it back forward.
“Let’s save it for later. We’ve got class.”
“…A shame.”
***
Duel Battle Class.
Teacher Lee Soo-dok scanned the room and began speaking.
“First, an announcement. Starting next week, finals will last for two weeks. The scope will cover everything from your first year.”
Crystal charging, hostile environments, Fixed Zone….you name it, anything could come up.
“If you want to end your first year with no regrets, you’d better review thoroughly.”
– ……
A heavy air settled over the classroom.
After applying that pressure, Lee Soo-dok, as usual, continued the lesson without a care.
“Last week’s duel battle theme was joint attack.”
The objective had been to either overwhelm a strong enemy with teamwork or withstand the combined attack of enemies.
Teams of four had to take down a buffed opponent within a time limit.
“This week’s duel battle session will be a continuation of that. Though there will be some changes.”
Lee Soo-dok smirked slightly on one side.
And from experience, whenever he made that face, it meant suffering was ahead. Anxiety rippled through the students.
And that anxiety quickly became reality.
MAP: [Circular Arena]
RULE: [Deathmatch] [Underdog]
[Random Matching] [2-person / 3-person teams] [5-minute limit]
“I’m sure you all remember [Underdog]. It wasn’t that long ago.”
A rule with a 67% chance of facing a second-year and a 33% chance of facing a third-year.
It had appeared in Week 7, right before the Fixed Zone tournament.
Then, one student cautiously raised their hand.
“Um… what about the [Fixed Zone] rule…?”
“Good eye. Not this time.”
It meant they’d be facing second- and third-years in their full unrestricted state.
The entire class was thrown into shock, but Lee Soo-dok’s expression remained calm.
“I don’t see why you’re already scared. At the very least, you’ll have the advantage in numbers.”
In [Fixed Zone], it had been one-on-one. But this time, the [2-person / 3-person] rule had been added.
“You will attack in pairs against second-years, and as a team of three against third-years.”
Considering the third-years’ overwhelming strength, it seemed they were adding one more person to balance things out.
Even so, going up against second-years would clearly be much easier.
“The time limit is set to a relatively short five minutes. But if anyone tries to stall or run away the whole time, I’ll be watching.”
Lee Soo-dok’s eyes widened with a sharp glare.
In response, Shin Byeong-cheol, the tea shop owner and master of running away, dropped his gaze.
“This isn’t just a weekly practical assessment. Think of it as a chance to improve. When else will you get to face a third-year?”
After graduation, they’d all go their separate ways, and not only would sparring be unlikely…it’d be hard to even meet again.
“Forget about winning or losing. Just give it your best. That’s all.”
***
After class.
As soon as the sub-quest came to mind, I opened the Challenge Book.
[Side Quest: 16th Week Duel Battle] (In Progress…)
▷Fixed third-year opponent
▷Skill Deactivation: Applied
▷Objective 1: Win with at least 80% health remaining (- / 2 times)
▷Objective 2: Deal a total of 60% or more damage (- / 60%)
▷Rewards: Varies based on achievement level.
Every match would be against a third-year.
Well, it was a challenge. No way they’d let me fight second-years for it.
The health condition shouldn’t be too hard.
No matter who the opponent is, I’m confident I won’t take any meaningful hits.
The problem was that I had to win twice.
I doubt I actually need to knock them out.
A win by decision is still a win.
As long as no allies are incapacitated during the 5-minute time limit and our average HP is higher than the opponent’s, we win.
But of all things, [Enchantement] had to be locked.
If I passed on [Retro Recovery] near the end of the match, we could win with 100% health guaranteed.
Looks like they anticipated that kind of trick and blocked it.
On top of that, we had to shave off 60% of the opponent’s HP, so we’d have to take a more aggressive approach.
Even if it’s tough, I’ve got to do it.
Since there was a chance the reward could be an extra slot, I was aiming for full completion.
As I was about to head toward the arena, I asked Seo Ye-in:
“Kind of tricky to use in a real match right after learning it this morning, right?”
“Trap Toss.”
“Do some practice, then try a duel battle later this week or over the weekend.”
“…That makes sense.”
Seo Ye-in gave a small nod.
“Then go on ahead to the training center.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“I’m doing a duel battle.”
If the side quest reward really was a slot expansion, I could immediately register [Great Sage’s Ring].
The sooner I finished, the sooner I could start building up mana.
At that, Seo Ye-in grabbed my sleeve.
“…I’ll go too.”
“What about practice?”
“Later.”
“Suit yourself.”
To be honest, a few more days of practice wouldn’t change much.
The opponents were second- and third-years, and the gap between us was on a yearly scale.
Soon, I headed to the arena with Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.
We scanned our student IDs at the terminal and waited.
With a confident grin, Go Hyeon-woo spoke up.
“I’d prefer to receive guidance from a third-year senior, if possible.”
“Second-years don’t meet your standards?”
“Haha, I didn’t mean it like that. It just feels like this might be my last chance.”
But contrary to Go Hyeon-woo’s wishes, the opponent he was matched with turned out to be a second-year.
In a way, his wish had still come true.
[Go Hyeon-woo]
[Cha Hyeon-joo]
vs
[Namgong Chang-cheon]
President of the swordsmanship club.
Though only a second-year, he had the skills to stand shoulder to shoulder with the third-years.
In a previous tournament, he narrowly lost the championship to Song Cheon-gi.
And now, Go Hyeon-woo would be facing such a formidable opponent with only a rabid Chihuahua by his side.
Still, he looked nothing but thrilled.
“Fortune favors me today. I get to witness Namgong’s sword firsthand.”
He meant that testing himself against a strong opponent mattered more than winning.
That “positive mindset” of his was kicking in again.
I nodded casually.
“Yeah. Learn a lot out there.”
“Of course. I shall go.”
With that, Go Hyeon-woo disappeared into the arena.
Not long after, my name showed up on the scoreboard as well.
[Kim Ho]
[Song Cheon-hye]
[Jeong Jin-myeong]
vs
[Mok Jong-hwa]
“Why does it feel like I keep running into the same people? Anyway, I’m off.”
“Good luck.”
I waved to Seo Ye-in and stepped onto the teleportation magic circle.
The scenery flipped instantly, and the familiar circular arena unfolded before my eyes.
Soon after, my teammates appeared at my sides.
Jeong Jin-myeong was the younger brother of Jeong Chong-myeong, the president of the White Magic Club, and his skills were around a promising 0.9 level.
Song Cheon-hye was a member of the disciplinary committee. No further explanation needed.
At least the team luck isn’t bad.
With everyone scoring in the 1000s, their skills were guaranteed.
Though the team had three mages, two of them were all-rounders, so we could manage things pretty flexibly.
As our eyes met, Jeong Jin-myeong and Song Cheon-hye each spoke up.
“First time we’re on the same team.”
“Let’s do our best.”
The warm atmosphere only lasted a moment. Everyone’s eyes soon turned to the other side.
Mok Jong-hwa, president of the Emerald Magic Tower, had made his appearance.
I greeted him politely.
“Good to see you.”
The other teammates followed suit with respectful gestures, but Mok Jong-hwa’s eyes were fixed solely on me.
“…It’s been a while. I don’t hold any grudges about what happened, but settling things wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“I feel the same.”
“Do your best. Let’s make sure we have no regrets.”
As Mok Jong-hwa raised his staff, subspace portals suddenly burst open one after another.
And three massive, ancient trees dropped to the ground.
Creaaaaaaaaaaak!
Leave a Reply