NOVPUBYang Ji-hong was confident.
I can handle this much.
With all the lightning and paralysis resistance he had built up, even if he got hit by Hummingbird, the paralysis would only last a moment.
That meant there was no need to waste energy dodging or blocking it.
I’ll pour everything into attacking.
So Yang Ji-hong took the incoming Hummingbirds head-on without hesitation.
Crackle, crackle!
Just as he expected, his body stiffened briefly and then loosened right away. He kept his speed and continued charging forward.
As soon as Kim Ho came within range, he pushed his spear forward.
Or at least, he tried to.
Boom!
A sudden explosion rang out, and the next thing Yang Ji-hong knew, he was flying backward through the air.
His mind froze for a moment. Only after landing on the ground did the question hit him.
Whatever had knocked him back—
Was it wind?
Things were getting more and more confusing.
He had thought lightning was Kim Ho’s main element, but now there was poison…and even wind magic.
He really went and learned everything.
Yang Ji-hong regretted again not watching any replays.
But just like before, there was no time to dwell on regret.
[Yang Ji-hong 93%]
[Yang Ji-hong 92%]
His health was still going down, second by second.
So he pushed off the ground again without delay.
He went over his quick plan in his head.
I’ll take the Hummingbirds, but stay alert for poison and wind blasts.
Yang Ji-hong closed the gap fast, stepping carefully and quickly.
Kim Ho watched him with a blank expression.
Then he reached out one hand—
Whoooosh—
A bitterly cold wind rushed toward Yang Ji-hong.
He immediately noticed his speed drop.
It’s not just cold…
It felt like the wind was slowing him down and pushing him back with force.
On top of that, when he turned his head at the cracking sound, he saw that his elbow was covered in ice.
[‘Frozen’ status effect has been applied.]
He really has all sorts of tricks.
It seemed that prolonged exposure to the cold wind would lead to being frozen.
In truth, it was because Kim Ho had cast [Mutual Destruction Eye] once again, but there was no way Yang Ji-hong could have known that.
He could only associate it with the cold wind.
Things are getting more and more hopeless.
Yang Ji-hong sensed it instinctively.
Even though he still had a fair amount of stamina left, he realized he didn’t have much actual time remaining.
I have to make my move now.
Even at that moment, he was still being dragged along by Kim Ho’s pace.
If this continued, he wouldn’t even get the chance to make a decisive move later.
Having made up his mind, he took his stance and drew upon his inner strength.
Then, leading with his spear, he unleashed his strongest finishing move.
Swooooosh—!
Yang Ji-hong shot forward like a beam of light.
At that moment, even the bitter wind blowing against him couldn’t slow him down in the slightest.
As he charged, he was gathering all his energy into the tip of his spear.
To pierce through the front with his fully accelerated speed and the spear energy compressed to its limit—
That was the essence of this final technique.
Let’s see you take this.
Whether the move landed or not, he was ready to accept the result without regret.
But then, suddenly, a thick wall of ice sprang up in front of him and blocked his path.
Yang Ji-hong’s eyes went wide.
“Ah.”
Baang—!
And, with all the speed he had built up, he crashed directly into the ice wall.
***
[Kim Ho Win] vs [Yang Ji-hong Lose]
[818+7 points in the duel battle match]
It really barely went up.
The score gap had been large, and it was a rematch against someone I’d already beaten before, so it couldn’t be helped.
What mattered was that I’d snagged a win in the side quest without lifting a finger.
Before long, the next match was scheduled.
I looked at the scoreboard and felt thoroughly satisfied.
Looks like I’ll breeze through the second match too.
[Kim Ho 825 points vs Son Hyeong-taek 620 points]
Son Hyeong-taek, a member of the Gap-doo Family.
His skills were average, and he had a clumsy sort of slyness.
Naturally, against someone truly cunning like me, he always ended up losing.
This time would be no different.
As I stepped onto the teleportation portal, I happened to spot Son Hyeong-taek nearby.
So I greeted him with a bright, cheerful smile.
“Hey, Hyeong-taek!”
“Don’t act like we’re close.”
Son Hyeong-taek was already making a face like he’d just bitten into something sour.
It looked like the memories of all the times he’d suffered at my hands were flooding back.
The time he swam through the river of lava, the time he fell from the cloud staircase, the time he got trapped in the field of traps, and so on.
For me, on the other hand, they were all delightful memories, so my attitude was equally cheerful.
“We’re not close, sure. But I can still say hi, can’t I, Hyeong-taek?”
“……”
Son Hyeong-taek ignored me and walked into the arena.
Man, that guy was really small-minded.
He should learn to have a generous heart, like big toad senior Gap-doo.
After following him into the arena and getting ready, the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
[Kim Ho 100% vs Son Hyeong-taek 100%]
“Hyeong-taek, look over there.”
Just like I’d done with Yang Ji-hong, I pointed somewhere completely unrelated with my finger.
It was part of a psychological tactic, while also creating a smokescreen.
The biggest strength of [Mutual Destruction Eye] was that it activated with nothing more than eye contact.
As long as the opponent didn’t realize this, I would always have the upper hand in psychological warfare.
In other words,
If I got caught, I’d lose that advantage.
This match, like the last one, would be recorded and replayed. Someone would surely try to analyze the Mutual Destruction Eye after watching it.
If I didn’t make any noticeable moves, it would be easier for them to deduce the activation conditions.
To delay that moment of discovery, I needed to make things as confusing as possible.
“……?”
Son Hyeong-taek reflexively turned his gaze in the direction I pointed.
Of course, there was nothing there, so he frowned even more deeply and glared at me.
And the moment our eyes met—
[The target has been afflicted with the ‘Weathering (C)’ status effect.]
[Cooldown: 00:00:59]
Whoosh—!
As the Mutual Destruction Eye activated, wind spiraled around Son Hyeong-taek’s body.
Startled, his eyes widened in shock.
[Son Hyeong-taek 99%]
[Son Hyeong-taek 98%]
Since he didn’t cancel it right away, it seemed he didn’t have any skills or traits related to debuff removal.
That meant he was now like a terminally ill patient.
I kept a bright, innocent smile on my face and gave a little finger wave.
“Run away.”
***
At around the same time, a similar scene was playing out elsewhere.
Hong Yeon-hwa swung her wand like a skilled conductor.
Each time she moved, the ruby glowed with a red light as her magic came to life.
Kwooooom!
A pillar of fire surged upward, giving birth to a three-headed fire serpent that relentlessly launched fireballs at her opponent.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Bukgong Han-seol moved frantically, stepping across the battlefield to avoid the incoming fireballs.
She occasionally fired back bursts of force to try to keep her opponent in check, but instead of weakening, the shield only burned more fiercely.
Since she specialized in cold-type martial arts, Hong Yeon-hwa, with her Aqua Flame, was practically her natural enemy.
Because the flames completely devoured any cold she generated, even exchanges of equal power left Han-seol at a disadvantage.
Because of that, even in the Dang Gyu-young–Kim Gap-doo wager match, Bukgong Han-seol had been thoroughly beaten by Hong Yeon-hwa, and now that they faced each other again, Hong Yeon-hwa had become even stronger than before. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
At this point, it was hard for Han-seol to even catch her breath.
Whoooooosh!
Even so, Bukgong Han-seol desperately kept moving her feet, using her movement technique, but her effort was meaningless as the hydras kept multiplying endlessly.
In the end, the number of fireballs being hurled became too many to dodge, and she began to take hits one by one.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
[Hong Yeon-hwa Win] vs [Bukgong Han-seol Lose]
[723 + 68 points in the duel battle match]
68 points!
Hong Yeon-hwa’s face lit up.
There had been a slight point adjustment since she had already defeated this opponent once in a duel battle, but because Bukgong Han-seol had a high score to begin with, she had managed to reap a lot of points.
Even more gratifying was the clear sense of her own growth.
Though she had held the upper hand against Bukgong Han-seol in the past as well, now she had displayed a nearly 10-to-0 level of dominance in the match.
Unable to control her expression, Hong Yeon-hwa kept grinning uncontrollably.
“……Hehe.”
The future looked incredibly bright.
If she kept burning through her opponents one after another, her score would keep climbing, and before long, she’d be standing shoulder to shoulder with the other promising students.
However, Hong Yeon-hwa’s smile vanished the moment the next match was assigned and the name appeared on the scoreboard.
[Seo Ye-in 842 points vs Hong Yeon-hwa 791 points]
Why……?
Why can’t I ever be happy……?
What did I do wrong to deserve being thrown into despair every time I try to feel just a little happiness?
Seo Ye-in was one of the few opponents Hong Yeon-hwa couldn’t confidently predict a victory against.
She had gained both skill and confidence over a month of mentoring with Kim Ho, but the same went for Seo Ye-in.
There was no advantage to be had.
And if what she’d heard in passing was true, Seo Ye-in was already ahead of her.
She’d even achieved a B-rank core two months earlier.
No, I won’t know until I face her.
She had even learned three different spells to reinforce her defenses, and had a powerful main skill at her disposal.
Maybe, just maybe, she could win.
With that thought to steady herself, Hong Yeon-hwa stepped onto the teleportation magic circle, and a grassy plain thick with foliage unfolded before her eyes.
Whoosh—
A gentle breeze brushed softly against her hair.
For a dueling arena, the scenery was surprisingly picturesque, but Hong Yeon-hwa’s gaze remained fixed straight ahead the entire time.
“……”
As always, Seo Ye-in returned her gaze with that same indifferent look.
Maybe it was the familiarity from seeing each other so often, she gave a faint wave.
…Yeah, I guess a greeting’s okay.
Hong Yeon-hwa returned the gesture, and soon the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
[Seo Ye-in 100% vs Hong Yeon-hwa 100%]
Seo Ye-in’s figure shimmered for a moment, then vanished completely.
She had probably slipped on her invisible ghillie suit.
Unfortunately, Hong Yeon-hwa hadn’t learned any detection-type magic.
Her utility skills were still sorely lacking.
Still, there was plenty to do besides just locating her opponent.
First, the defense spells.
Since the opponent was a gunner, securing stability was the top priority.
She quickly began chanting, layering herself with [Reverse Curtain], [Scorching Armor], and [Blaze Shield].
Even so, Seo Ye-in had yet to make any move.
Good. Next. Hydra.
Crimson magic circles etched themselves into the ground, and pillars of fire erupted, scorching the field.
Booooooooom—!
She was just about to chain the spells together and summon the Hydra when—
—a sharp, clean gunshot rang out by her ear.
Bang.
When Hong Yeon-hwa hurriedly turned her head, she saw a magic bullet—no, a grenade—nearly the size of a fist, flying in an arc toward her.
The grenade collided with the Blaze Shield and exploded.
Booom—!
Not only did the layered defensive spells shatter completely, but the shockwave also struck Hong Yeon-hwa beyond them.
Its destructive power was far beyond imagination.
It was the result of combining a [Magic Bullet] nearing B-rank with [Ejection] and [Shock Bomb].
“Guhk.”
Hong Yeon-hwa rolled helplessly across the ground.
