Seo Ye-in and Song Cheon-hye looked slightly flustered.
Hong Yeon-hwa was roughly on the same level as them, yet she had been completely helpless from the very start of the match.
I urged the two of them on.
“Come on, move it. I don’t mind if you give me more time, though.”
At the moment, both [Diamond Freeze] and [Chain Explosion] were on cooldown.
Of course, the cooldowns would eventually expire, and then I could pull off the combo again.
As for Seo Ye-in and Song Cheon-hye, they probably hadn’t even figured out what kind of skills or traits they were, let alone come up with a way to deal with them.
If they got caught by the combo, they were done for.
So their best option was simple.
Finish this before the cooldowns are up.
The two exchanged a quick glance before making their move.
At the same moment Seo Ye-in aimed her mana gun at me, Song Cheon-hye kicked off the ground, gathering electricity into both hands.
Ratatatatatata!
A barrage of magic bullets poured down.
More of them were aimed at the places I was likely to dodge to than at me directly.
They were clearly trying to restrict my movements and create an opening for her teammate.
As if responding to that support, Song Cheon-hye closed the distance even faster.
She compressed the electricity into several small clouds and hurled them toward me.
The clouds settled around me and immediately began dropping tiny bolts of lightning.
Rumble, rumble!
Finally, Song Cheon-hye rushed in and threw a punch.
Their teamwork isn’t bad.
Especially considering they had thrown it together on the spot.
Still, they were a long way from actually hitting me.
Wrapped in Sylphid Armor, I stepped around with Feather Step as if performing a tap dance.
After letting the lightning and magic bullets pass by, I slipped inside Song Cheon-hye’s range and placed a hand against her abdomen.
Boom!
Hit by Wind Force, Song Cheon-hye was sent flying backward.
She regained her balance in midair and charged at me again the moment she landed.
But halfway there, she suddenly stopped.
“……!”
“What, you’re not coming any closer?”
That was because a blue circle was spreading outward from beneath my feet.
She had already witnessed Hong Yeon-hwa being flattened into a pancake.
There was no way she wanted to become a flattened hedgehog herself.
“……”
After exchanging another look with Seo Ye-in, Song Cheon-hye stayed just outside the blue circle and began casting lightning magic.
Looks like she had no intention of stepping inside either.
The second match was easier.
All three opponents had been melee classes, so they had no choice but to fight inside the sacred ground (which wasn’t actually a sacred ground).
Seo Ye-in, on the other hand, was a pure ranged gunner.
And Song Cheon-hye was an all-rounder mage who could freely switch between close-range and long-range combat.
In a situation like this, she could simply stand back and keep firing spells.
That’s why I took Hong Yeon-hwa out first.
Not only was she a ranged artillery-type mage, but many of her spells were area-of-effect or ground-targeted attacks.
Unlike the attacks from the other two, they couldn’t simply be dodged or blocked.
And relying solely on [Elemental Resistance] to tank everything was a thing of the past. At around A-Rank, there was a good chance enemy attacks would start punching through it little by little.
Ratatatatatata!
Rumble! Crack!
Song Cheon-hye kept trying to hit me, but eventually seemed to realize the problem.
She spoke to Seo Ye-in.
“There’s something I want to try. Keep up the pressure.”
“…Understood.”
Then she raised both hands above her head and began pouring out electricity.
Fzzzzzzzt—!
What formed was a massive lightning bolt taller than Song Cheon-hye herself.
Whether it hit directly or not, once it landed, it would trigger a huge electrical explosion.
Large enough to engulf the entire blue circle.
Which meant I only had two choices.
Move out of the Pulverize Zone or take the hit.
That’s what you think, anyway.
Unfortunately for them, I still had a third option.
The moment Song Cheon-hye swung both arms downward, the giant lightning bolt came crashing toward the center of the blue circle.
Fzzzzzzzt—!
I stared at it as if I had no countermeasure at all, then casually raised my staff.
The motion resembled the casting gesture for [Harmonized Flow], but the skill I actually used was different.
[Celestial Shift]
The gigantic bolt wrapped itself around the tip of my staff.
Then I redirected it and hurled it toward Seo Ye-in.
Fzzzzzzzt-Booom—!
An electrical explosion erupted, turning the entire field of vision white.
Since the outcome was completely unexpected, Song Cheon-hye looked utterly shocked.
“No, why did that—”
“That’s not the important part right now.”
The important part was that I had used Blink behind her.
Realizing my intention, Song Cheon-hye tried to dodge.
But Wind Force exploded a step faster.
Boom!
Then I shoved my target into the blue circle.
Naturally, there was barely a second left on the timer.
Apparently deciding there wasn’t enough time to escape, Song Cheon-hye hunched her shoulders and squeezed her eyes shut.
But then, a cotton-candy-like cloud came floating in from somewhere.
And a familiar activation phrase followed.
“Fluffy Fluffy.”
Boom!
As if a smoke grenade had gone off, a white cloud rapidly spread outward and blanketed the entire area.
Fluffy Cloud Bracelet.
An A+-Rank item specialized in magical defense.
Its attached skill [Fluffy Fluffy] greatly increased both its area of effect and defensive power for a short period of time.
Boom—!
Thanks to that, Song Cheon-hye survived a direct hit from [Pulverize Zone].
She looked at Seo Ye-in with surprise written all over her face. It seemed that, even though they were only temporary allies, she hadn’t expected Seo Ye-in to go that far for her.
“…Thank you.”
“Mhmm.”
Feeling pleased myself, I offered some praise.
“That save was excellent. That’s how teamwork is supposed to work.”
“……..”
Instead of answering, Seo Ye-in looked away.
Apparently her sulking meter was still completely maxed out.
I’d deal with that later. Turning back to Song Cheon-hye, I said,
“I honestly thought you’d just use Blink.”
“…I was going to?”
“While squeezing your eyes shut like that?”
“…….”
Apparently unable to come up with a response, Song Cheon-hye fell silent.
Her cheeks gradually grew redder.
I shook my head and let out a heavy sigh.
“What a disappointing situation. To think someone who was making such a big fuss about ‘showing me how much she’d improved’ would end up like this…”
“No, I just panicked for a second! Do you know how much I’ve practiced that spell?”
“Then should I give you another chance?”
“…How?”
In response to Song Cheon-hye’s question, I cast [Pulverize Zone].
A small blue circle, barely large enough for one person to stand in, appeared on the ground.
“Go stand over there.”
“Why would I?”
“You wanted another chance, didn’t you? If not, forget it.”
“…Fine, I’ll do it.”
Song Cheon-hye obediently stepped into the blue circle.
She looked at me as if asking what she was supposed to do next, so I answered.
“All you have to do is Blink out before it activates.”
“That should be easy enough. I’ll give it a try.”
Song Cheon-hye immediately focused her mind and began chanting Blink.
As I watched, I gave her a slight push with Wind Force.
Whoooosh—
“Ah—!”
She staggered before barely managing to regain her balance.
Then she shot me an incredulous look.
“Why are you interfering?”
“Did I ever say I’d leave you alone?”
“You didn’t, but doing this now is just cheap.”
“Hmm. That’s actually a fair point.”
I nodded thoughtfully and continued.
“In a real fight, your opponent wouldn’t announce, ‘I’m about to interfere with you!’ before attacking. But this isn’t a real fight.”
“…….”
“If your practice wasn’t enough, then it can’t be helped.”
“No, why do you keep trying to frame it like that?”
“Because you’re complaining over a little breeze.”
At that, Song Cheon-hye flared up.
“Then interfere all you want! Use wind, throw ice at me, whatever!”
“You sure about that?”
“I’m sure!”
“Excellent. Go ahead, then.”
Grumbling under her breath, Song Cheon-hye returned to the center of the blue circle.
She quickly regained her composure and resumed her spellcasting.
Just as Blink was about to activate—
You told me to interfere, right?
And you said you were sure.
I raised the Crow Tree and spoke the activation phrase.
“Caw?”
“…Huh?”
Song Cheon-hye looked around in confusion.
She had definitely cast Blink, yet it felt as though she hadn’t moved an inch.
Then she noticed the blue circle still beneath her feet and realized she really hadn’t moved at all.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but—
Boom—!
An invisible pressure descended from above and crushed her flat.
At long last, the flattened hedgehog was complete.
Watching the scene, Seo Ye-in and I each offered a brief comment.
“Noob.”
“…Noob.”
She had definitely gotten stronger over the summer break, but apparently her resistance to taunts was still sitting at zero.
I turned to face Seo Ye-in.
“Now you’re the only one left.”
“……..”
Seo Ye-in pointed her gun at me.
Then, apparently changing her mind, she lowered the magic gun and put it away into her inventory altogether.
That didn’t seem to mean she was giving up, though.
The fact that she was gripping the Immortal Kim Ho-Kim Ho Pot in one hand made that abundantly clear.
“I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
“In close combat?”
“Clang.”
“Sounds good. Come at me.”
“…….”
Seo Ye-in approached with Feather Step.
As soon as I entered her range, she swung the pot with all her might.
Whoosh—!
She seemed especially invested in it today.
So I leaned this way and that to avoid the blows and asked,
“I don’t get it. Is this really something to be that mad about?”
“It is.”
“Why?”
Whoosh—!
The pot sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.
Seo Ye-in answered with a dissatisfied look.
“You keep sending me far away.”
“Sending you far away?”
“To my house.”
“Because I went to the Ruby Magic Tower by myself?”
Whoosh—!
The flying pot seemed to confirm it.
“Sent me to the class next door.”
“But you sleep anyway. Does it really matter if we’re in different classes?”
“It matters.”
“Why?”
“Can’t sleep well.”
When I was around, she could sleep soundly no matter how much Lee Soo-dok glared at her, but without me there, she apparently couldn’t relax.
“I get it, but what can I do? It’s not like I can pressure the principal over something like this.”
“Sad second-year…….”
“Still, we can hang out after class. And at night, you’ve got your pillow.”
Even so, Seo Ye-in continued swinging the pot with a dissatisfied expression.
Whoooosh—
“Not enough.”
“What isn’t?”
“Our time.”
“I’ll admit that’s true.”
Back in the first half of our first year, it was usually just Seo Ye-in and me together. These days, though, three was the minimum, and it wasn’t uncommon for four or five people to tag along.
“But it doesn’t make sense to ditch everyone else now. What’s the solution?”
As Seo Ye-in pondered the question, a light bulb seemed to go off over her head.
“……Wish ticket.”
“You still have the one from the Dang Family. Back during the Challenge Hardship.”
“Mhmm.”
“How are you planning to use it?”
“Downtown.”
“We’re going there anyway. You don’t need a wish ticket for that.”
– Shake, shake.
At this point, it was pretty obvious what she wanted.
“You want it to be just the two of us?”
“Mhmm.”
“You don’t like going around as a group?”
“I do.”
“But you like it better when it’s just the two of us?”
“That’s right.”
“Got it. We’ll set a date.”
Only then did Seo Ye-in seem to calm down a little, finally ending her relentless barrage of pot swings.
I took the opportunity to say,
“We’ve talked enough. Shall we settle this now?”
“……Forfeit?”
“Absolutely not.”
If she did that, my quest kill count wouldn’t go up.
There were only two ways out of here.
Either she defeated me, or she became a flattened sloth.
Seo Ye-in slowly backed away, carefully avoiding the blue circles that appeared beneath her feet.
“Help…….”
Unfortunately, Song Cheon-hye and Hong Yeon-hwa who might have helped her were already gone.
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