Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in had long shared a curious mix of rivalry and intrigue toward each other.
Both the shadow mage and the marksman were distinct, specialized classes. They each required different hidden pieces and demanded different dungeons to conquer.
As a result, it was usually only one of them who followed Kim Ho into a dungeon at any given time, while the other stayed behind, left to wonder:
– What did she get this time?
Since the hidden pieces they each obtained were of considerable value, it was only natural to assume the other’s gains were just as significant.
Just how strong has she become?
Though they’d watched duel battle replays, observed tournaments, and occasionally entered dungeons together to get a sense of each other’s builds, it still wasn’t enough.
What they both really wanted was to go head-to-head.
But it wasn’t so easy to just come out and say, “Wanna duel?”
And so, as if fate had arranged it, the duel battle round laid out the perfect opportunity.
“……”
“……”
Now, standing face to face before their clash, the two girls stared each other down.
In Seo Ye-in’s jet-black eyes, charisma flickered with a hint of mischief. In contrast, Dang Gyu-young’s gray eyes looked indifferent…almost sleepy.
Then Seo Ye-in broke the silence.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
Dang Gyu-young furrowed her brows slightly.
It was sudden and unexpected.
Why would someone from the Hye-seong Group need a favor?
With a single word, she could probably get anything she wanted.
But then again, there were a few things even people like them couldn’t easily obtain.
“This is about Kim Ho, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Seo Ye-in gave a small nod.
Dang Gyu-young paused to consider what she might be after.
If it was about Kim Ho, and if she herself held the decision-making power and given that the semester was nearly over…
She had a pretty good idea.
Of course, understanding what the favor was and actually agreeing to it were two very different things. A playful smirk tugged at her lips as she answered.
“Well, this is a rare bargaining chip. I better make the most of it.”
Usually, there was no negotiating with her at all.
Even when half-jokingly discussing how much access each of them should get to Kim Ho, Seo Ye-in stubbornly insisted on a 9:1 split in her favor.
Dang Gyu-young lightly swung her shadow bat.
“Let’s finish this first. Come at me.”
“……”
“If you half-ass it, forget the favor.”
– Nod.
Seo Ye-in had already planned to give it her all in this fight.
She immediately summoned her mana, loaded [Explosive Bullets] into her assault rifle, and pulled the trigger.
Ratatatatata!
In response, Dang Gyu-young advanced behind her summoned minion, the Qyu-Lab Director.
Blue explosions rocked the field, tearing the minion’s upper body to shreds. But moments later, the wounds ballooned and fresh flesh rapidly regenerated.
It was the superior regeneration of the Flesh Golem.
Ratatatatat!
Seo Ye-in’s gunfire continued, but the Qyu-Lab Director pushed forward without flinching, absorbing the damage as he advanced.
Once the distance had closed sufficiently, Dang Gyu-young sprang out from behind her minion and swung her shadow bat.
Seo Ye-in dodged backward with light footwork, but Dang Gyu-young stuck to her like glue.
Just as the bat missed several times, slicing through empty air—
Swishhhh—!
A sharp sonic boom ripped through the air from behind Seo Ye-in.
It was the Shadow Lord. The powerful black assassin.
Dang Gyu-young’s plan was clear: apply pressure from the front and strike from the rear with a deadly blow.
“……”
In that desperate moment, Seo Ye-in reached behind her and, without even looking, raised her pot.
Clang.
The Shadow Lord’s dagger which looked as though it could pierce through anything was stopped cold.
Dang Gyu-young blinked in surprise.
“You saw that coming?”
“Nope.”
“Then how?”
“Just a… gut feeling.”
She had blocked it by instinct alone.
But it didn’t end there.
A space as dark as the night sky opened up and swallowed the Shadow Lord whole.
It was the skill [Space Severance]. A power imbued into the immortal pot.
That thing is totally cheating.
Though Dang Gyu-young grumbled inwardly, the situation wasn’t entirely bad.
[Space Severance] was notorious for its massive mana cost.
If she could force her opponent to burn that much just to deal with a single undead summon, then it wasn’t a bad trade at all.
Qyu-Lab Director was still in play, and she had plenty more cards up her sleeve.
Maybe it’s time to bring this one out again.
[Butterfly Flight]
From beneath her feet, one, then two shadow butterflies fluttered into the air.
Seo Ye-in instantly opened fire with her magic rifle.
Ratatatatat!
But for every butterfly she shot down, several more were summoned in their place.
With Qyu-Lab Director even expanding his body to absorb incoming fire, the butterfly swarm soon grew out of control.
Leading the swarm, Dang Gyu-young charged in again, pressing Seo Ye-in with the same tactic as before.
Then suddenly, she retreated and unleashed a skill.
[Shadow Dream]
All the butterflies simultaneously transformed into razor-edged blades, tearing through the arena.
Screeeee—!
Unfazed, Seo Ye-in calmly muttered,
“Swish.”
[Ghost Dance] activated, causing her form to blur.
She slipped out of the range of Shadow Dream and reappeared at Dang Gyu-young’s flank, raising her magic rifle.
A crisp sound rang from the launcher beside the barrel.
Tonk.
A grenade.
Dang Gyu-young quickly threw Qyu-Lab Director in front and had him puff up to absorb the blast.
But just before the grenade hit, it blinked…vanishing in a flash and reappearing right in front of her.
As if it had passed straight through the obstacle.
What the—
Booooom—!
Ratatatatatata!
Blue explosions erupted, and Seo Ye-in poured a barrage of mana bullets into the blast zone.
But before long, she had to stop firing and raise her pot defensively—
“I have Ghost Dance too, you know.”
Dang Gyu-young had suddenly appeared right beside her and slammed her shadow bat down.
Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!
Distortion was already used earlier, and Ghost Dance just now, too.
The chances of being caught off guard were now significantly lower compared to the beginning.
In that case, was there any need to take a big risk?
It’s better to lock it down steadily.
Having made her decision, Dang Gyu-young gestured toward Qyu-Lab Director.
The upper half of the creature shrank to about the size of an average person, while only its arms bulked up with thick muscles.
It had transformed into a form suited for offense.
Clang! Clang!
She banged the pot deliberately to force the opponent to focus solely on defense.
On top of that, she launched a joint assault with the Qyu-Lab Director and summoned a few Shadow Butterflies to add some variation.
Whether the tactic worked or not, Seo Ye-in began to take damage little by little.
[Seo Ye-in: 94%]
[Seo Ye-in: 91%]
[Seo Ye-in: 87%]
“…This is bad.”
“Don’t you have anything? A comeback move! Something like that.”
“……!”
At those words, an exclamation mark popped up above Seo Ye-in’s head.
Only then did she seem to recall something.
Then, seeing her slowly put away her magic gun, Dang Gyu-young furrowed his brow slightly.
She’s not planning to just keep defending till the end, is she?
If it ended like this, it’d be a bit disappointing.
Fortunately, Seo Ye-in didn’t let her down.
Clang, clang-clang,
Gripping the pot with one hand to stay on defense, she used her other hand to form a cluster of light.
As it gradually took shape, its identity became clear—
…A trap?
Right after that, the severed space was released, and the Shadow Lord appeared.
She must have decided there was no need to keep him restrained anymore.
Before Dang Gyu-young could even give any orders, Seo Ye-in casually tossed the trap beneath her feet and stepped on it.
[Trap Toss]
[Fickle Trap]
Flaaaaash—!
Light burst from the trap, engulfing the entire circular arena.
For a brief moment, it felt as though they were standing in a completely white void.
In the next instant, a huge explosion and shockwave erupted.
Booooooom—!!
Not only were the shadow undead swept away, but Dang Gyu-young herself found herself flying through the air.
She barely managed to regain her balance midair and land safely.
[Dang Gyu-young: 100%]
[Dang Gyu-young: 81%]
Her luck is honestly ridiculous.
She’d seen that the skill was called [Fickle Trap] plenty of times before.
A few people in the club had learned it, too.
But none of them had ever caused such a huge explosion like that.
Maybe because it was a skill heavily influenced by luck. When Seo Ye-in who was practically known as a walking good-luck charm used it, it felt like something completely different.
Still, credit where it’s due.
Luck is a kind of skill too, and having the guts to act boldly while trusting in that luck is also a form of skill.
So Dang Gyu-young offered a compliment across from her.
“That was a good one just now. You really got me with that hit.”
“Thank you.”
Her tone was flat, but from what Dang Gyu-young knew of Seo Ye-in, that much was actually pretty polite.
If it were anyone else, she probably would’ve just given a lazy nod and left it at that.
“Wanna keep going?”
“…No.”
Seo Ye-in slowly shook her head.
She might have looked fine on the outside, but she’d probably taken a fair amount of damage.
[Seo Ye-in: 64%]
She’d taken the blast from her own trap at point-blank range, after all.
Dang Gyu-young was about to say, “Alright, let’s stop here then,” but suddenly felt a mischievous impulse.
So she let the words slip out casually.
“Kinda saw this coming, but I won again. I guess I really am the only one fit to be number one.”
“……!”
Childish, but an effective provocation.
Her gray eyes widened just a little.
“…A rematch.”
“You still got something left?”
Instead of answering, Seo Ye-in raised one hand above her head.
Sssss…
Her gray hair gradually turned white, and her whole body became wrapped in a dazzling light.
Dang Gyu-young immediately sensed something was off.
“That’s it, huh? Your ultimate?”
“Yes.”
She’d heard about its power from Kim Ho.
It had overwhelmed the Craftsman Dragon, even if only for a moment.
If something that powerful was aimed at her…could she withstand it?
The tables might turn in an instant.
But before worrying about winning or losing, there was something she needed to check. So Dang Gyu-young asked again.
“You were really about to use it? You’ll lose your luck, remember.”
“……”
It was just a single match. Nothing special was at stake.
Was it really worth throwing away nearly a week’s worth of good luck?
“……”
Seo Ye-in seemed to have come to the same conclusion. The hand she had raised slowly came back down.
Her pure-white hair gradually returned to gray.
“Butler would have a rough time.”
“That’s true. Good call.”
If she lost her luck, not only she but also Kim Ho and the people around her would suffer. Holding back was the wiser choice.
So she’s not completely reckless.
She seemed capable of being considerate when it mattered.
Dang Gyu-young’s opinion of Seo Ye-in quietly improved.
Truthfully, even if she had used her ultimate, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.
[Time Remaining: 0:10]
The five-minute time limit was almost up.
As the two of them turned to look at the scoreboard, the results appeared.
[Bukgong Hanseol: Lose]
[Lee Seul-bi: Lose]
[Seo Ye-in: Lose]
vs
[Dang Gyu-young: Win]
With two out of three teammates incapacitated, average health didn’t matter anymore.
Even one-on-one, Dang Gyu-young was ahead 81% to 64%.
Of course, the win itself wasn’t what mattered.
They were all improving rapidly, and the balance of power could shift at any time.
They had accomplished their goal: confirming each other’s abilities and settling their curiosities.
In a relatively relaxed atmosphere, the two of them stepped onto the teleportation magic circle together.
Then Dang Gyu-young asked a question.
“So, what was the favor you wanted to ask?”
“…During the break.”
“Hmm? During the break?”
Her gray eyes sparkled.
“I want to go with you.”
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