NOVPUBRematch.
The word meant exactly what it sounded like. Facing off in a match once again.
And it was as clear as day who we would be facing in that rematch.
“The pairings will be limited to opponents you faced during duel battles in the first semester. It could be someone you beat or someone you lost to.”
Soon, Lee Soo-dok’s gaze pierced into a few of the students.
The common factor among them was that they were in the lower ranks, having started the placement exams with either zero or one win.
“It reminds me of the old days. I also started with zero points. Everyone looked down on me and laughed. They told me I had no talent, that I should just drop out and look for something else to do. I couldn’t bear it, so I trained like a madman.”
And it had been around this time of year, he said.
That was when the [Rematch] rule had come up, just like now.
“I cut down every single one of the bastards who had looked down on me. From that point on, even they started gaining some self-awareness. By the time I became a second-year, no one dared to underestimate me.”
Come to think of it, from that point on, it probably hadn’t been about looking down on him; they had been scared of him.
Considering what he had likely become back then, it wasn’t surprising.
The other students seemed to share similar thoughts, their faces pale with dread, but Lee Soo-dok paid it no mind and continued speaking.
“This week will be a great opportunity for all of you. You’ll be able to see just how much your skills have improved or whether you’ve been complacent.”
The rest of the rules and environment appeared on the board.
MAP: [Random]
RULE: [Death Match] [Rematch] [10-Minute Time Limit]
It would be a death match that continued until one side either collapsed or surrendered.
And if the 10-minute limit passed, the winner would be decided based on remaining health.
Since both were commonly used rules, Lee Soo-dok didn’t bother explaining them and instead focused on elaborating on the rematch.
“As I mentioned earlier, the pairing will be with someone you’ve faced at least once during the duel battles.”
At that moment, a female student in the front row very cautiously raised her hand.
And when Lee Soo-dok gave a slight nod of his chin, she asked her question.
“Um… if the point gap is too big, couldn’t the match end the moment it starts…?”
“There will certainly be cases where the match ends quickly due to a difference in skill. But wouldn’t the opposite be possible as well?”
Taking down an opponent with several hundred more points than yourself.
If that happened, you’d be able to steal a huge chunk of points from them.
It wouldn’t be common, but it was definitely within the realm of possibility.
“Of course, the academic board anticipates that most matches won’t have major upsets, so they’ve prepared one more mechanism to balance the score.”
When you lose again to someone you’ve already lost to once, the points you lose are reduced.
On the other hand, if you manage to get revenge on someone who previously beat you, you gain extra points.
And the same applies in reverse.
“So even if you’re matched with a strong opponent again, give it your all. I’ll be keeping a close eye on anyone who slacks off or forfeits on purpose.”
“……!”
A few students flinched at Lee Soo-dok’s cold, threatening tone.
***
As soon as class ended, nearly all the students rushed to the arena.
Naturally, that included me, Go Hyeon-woo, and Seo Ye-in.
We usually preferred to get our practical evaluations done early, but even the other students were unusually eager this time, and there was a good reason for it.
If you’re late, your opponent might already be gone.
This week’s duel battles would only match you with someone you’d already fought once before.
But what if you hesitated or waited around until the weekend, and all of those opponents had already finished their matches?
There was a real chance you wouldn’t get matched at all.
And then any unplayed matches would automatically be counted as losses by forfeit.
In that case, it was far better to get them over with early.
Students from other classes seemed to think the same, and the arena was packed with people in a way that felt unusual for the first day of the semester.
We scanned our student IDs at the terminal and waited for our matchups.
As we waited, I turned to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in and asked them a question.
“Who do you two want to face again?”
“Of course, it would be you, Kim-hyung.”
Go Hyeon-woo answered without a moment of hesitation.
Since I had faced them once in the Cloud Stairs duel battle, there was a good chance we could be matched again.
I grinned and asked him,
“Sounds like you’re confident?”
“Haha, how could I possibly be confident going up against you, Kim-hyung? I’m just hoping I get the chance this time. We’ve never really had a proper match to test each other’s skills, have we?”
“That’s true. If we get matched, let’s see how it goes. Anyone else?”
“The next one that comes to mind is definitely Jang-hyung.”
That was the Black Faction’s promising student, Jang Sam. His real name was Jang Moo-geuk.
He had once faced off against Go Hyeon-woo in a 2-on-2 match, and they had ended in a draw.
Of course, considering how much Jang Moo-geuk had adjusted his style to counter Go Hyeon-woo’s during that match, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he was at least a step or two ahead.
What he was like now, though, remained to be seen.
Next, I turned to Seo Ye-in and asked her,
“Anyone on your list?”
Seo Ye-in stared at me for a few seconds, then pulled out a pot.
That alone was as good as a response.
“Me?”
“I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
“I must’ve built up quite the bad karma.”
To think there were so many people eager to give me a hard time.
When I asked again if there was anyone else, Seo Ye-in paused for a moment before answering.
“Cha Hyeon-joo.”
“So you do have someone. Why her?”
“She keeps saying nasty things.”
Well, Cha Hyeon-joo was known to be pretty foul-mouthed even on normal days. And even more so when it came to me.
She was like a hellhound, always trying to sink her teeth into me somehow.
From Seo Ye-in’s perspective, there was no way she could ever like her.
Besides, the two of them were both in the ranged combat class and had even gone head-to-head in a one-on-one bombardment match before.
At the time, Cha Hyeon-joo had been in a significantly weakened state, so although Seo Ye-in had technically won, she was probably still hoping to secure a victory in a proper match.
This time, it was Go Hyun-woo who asked. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
“Kim-hyung, is there anyone you want to face?”
“Not really. They’re all more or less the same.”
“I see.”
To be honest, a few people did come to mind.
Shin Byeong-cheol, Baek Jun-seok, Kang Hee-chan…
They all had one thing in common. They were easy to beat.
All I need is to rack up wins anyway.
[Side Quest: 1st Week Duel Battle] (In Progress…)
▷ Objective: Complete 3 Duels (-/3)
▷ Deadline: By Sunday at midnight
▷ Reward: Varies based on performance
Whether I defeated three promising students in a row or just beat Shin Byeong-cheol three times, the highest reward was the same.
So wouldn’t it make sense to go the easy route?
Of course, I wasn’t some kind of lucky charm. Things didn’t always go the way I wanted.
Soon, the matchmaking was completed, and the scoreboard displayed my opponent’s name.
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that guy.’
[Kim Ho 818 points vs. Yang Ji-hong 573 points]
Yang Ji-hong.
He had been my opponent in the first duel battle of the semester.
He had the same placement test record as I did. One win and two losses which earned him 300 points.
Back then, I had forfeited my match against Song Cheon-hye which earned me the nickname “coward”, so Yang Ji-hong had looked down on me and tried to pick a fight.
But after suffering three consecutive losses, he admitted his mistake and apologized with surprising humility.
I hadn’t seen him for a while since then, so I’d wondered what he’d been up to. Turns out he’d been steadily climbing in points.
He’d probably improved quite a bit too.
As I made my way toward the arena, I said,
“I’ll head in first. Good luck, you two.”
“May fortune smile upon you.”
Leaving behind Go Hyun-woo who gave a slight smile, and Seo Ye-in who waved her hand gently, I stepped onto the teleportation magic circle in front of the arena.
In the next moment, I found myself standing in a flat, wide-open wasteland.
Opposite me stood Yang Ji-hong who was gripping a long spear tightly with his eyes fixed on me.
***
Yang Ji-hong let out a sigh under his breath.
This won’t be easy…
Ever since he saw the word [Rematch], he had a bad feeling…and sure enough, he ended up facing off against Kim Ho again.
If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve watched some replays.
He had never been particularly interested in other people’s matches.
He thought it was better to spend that time focusing on his own training.
Looking back now, he regretted being so short-sighted.
…What’s done is done.
He’d make a point to watch replays from time to time going forward.
Right now, he needed to focus on the task in front of him.
Yang Ji-hong tried to gauge Kim Ho’s abilities.
He was overwhelming even back then.
At the beginning of the first semester, there had been such a wide skill gap that he couldn’t even put up proper resistance and lost three times in a row. And now, Kim Ho seemed even stronger.
The score said it all.
[Kim Ho 818 points vs. Yang Ji-hong 573 points]
What the hell did he do to reach 800 points?
Hadn’t they both started from the same 300 points?
He himself had been steadily building up his score with a decent win rate, but he couldn’t even guess how many consecutive wins it would take to reach 800.
It already felt like defeat was looming over him, but he had no intention of giving up just yet.
If you call yourself a warrior, you fight to the end.
If he gave it his all, he might at least be able to land a solid blow.
If he lost after that, he wouldn’t have any regrets.
On the contrary, it would be proof that his skills had grown.
And truthfully, he did have one thing he was counting on.
I’ve prepared a countermeasure for lightning magic.
When he lost to Kim Ho, he’d made a vow.
No matter who he faced, he would never again be paralyzed and left helpless.
Because of this, he had taken multiple elixirs that increased resistance to lightning attributes and was also wearing a bracelet that neutralized paralysis.
With this much preparation, he was confident he could withstand even Kim Ho’s thunder magic, including Hummingbird.
Soon, both sides locked eyes and took their stances as the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
[Kim Ho 100% vs Yang Ji-hong 100%]
[Time Remaining: 9:59]
Just as Yang Ji-hong was about to launch forward off the ground—
Kim Ho slowly raised one hand and pointed somewhere with his finger.
As if to say, “Look over there.”
“……?”
Instinctively, Yang Ji-hong turned his head, but all he saw was a lone rock and a tall cactus.
What was the meaning behind pointing at that?
Is he trying to buy time? Not that a few seconds would make much of a difference…
As that thought passed through his mind and he turned back to Kim Ho, Yang Ji-hong’s eyes widened in shock.
He felt something wrong in his body.
At the same time, a system message appeared, confirming his suspicion.
[Status Effect “Poisoned” has been applied]
When did he poison me?!
Had he really been poisoned in just that brief moment of distraction?
But the distance between them was too great. How could that even be possible?
He’d never heard anything about Kim Ho learning poison techniques.
A flurry of questions ran through his mind, but that wasn’t the issue right now.
What mattered now was—
There’s no time.
[Yang Ji-hong 99%]
[Yang Ji-hong 98%]
His situation was only going to get worse from here.
He had no choice but to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
With his decision made, Yang Ji-hong dashed forward.
At the same time, he began thrusting his spear wildly through the air.
Shweeeek! Shweeeek!
Concentrated spear energy shot forward like arrows.
In response, Kim Ho used fist-sized dark clouds to deflect each of the spear strikes one by one.
Then, electricity began to gather in his hand, and two hummingbirds shot into the air.
Fzzzzzzzt!
He’s using it after all!
Yang Ji-hong’s eyes sharpened with determination.
This was his first and only chance.
He surged forward with even greater speed, charging headlong.
Screeeeeech!
