Episode 87 Week 5 Mentoring, In-person Battle (10)
Hong Yeon-hwa has been having a very difficult time these days.
– Whoosh whoosh!
As Hong Yeon-hwa quickly stepped back and poured fire magic in front of her, her vision filled with flames and a sweltering heat.
Dang Gyu-yeong jumped out of the blazing flames and threw a punch.
Hong Yeon-hwa barely manages to block the flying fists one by one.
However, as time goes by, the defense becomes weaker and weaker.
– Phew!
Suddenly, a large shadowy foot kicked her away.
“Ouch.”
Hong Yeon-hwa rolling on the floor, making a sound like the wind was going out.
The kick had to have been hard for it to roll quite a distance.
After rolling around for a while, he fell down with a crash and didn’t move at all as if he were dead.
Dang Gyu-yeong looked down at the sight with an expressionless face, then said something coldly.
“wake up.”
“… … .”
Rolling over and falling down was something I had experienced more than once while working one-on-one, and every time that happened, I would jump up at Dang Gyu-yeong’s words.
Because I learned firsthand that the more I hesitate, the more miserable I become.
However, the fact that Hong Yeon-hwa was still standing still meant that she no longer had the energy to even lift a hand.
Dang Gyu-yeong also knew that fact, so he finished today’s training.
“That’s it for today. Rest.”
“… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa was still glued to the floor like a piece of gum for a long time after Dang Gyu-yeong left the circular arena.
And then a pitiful sound came out of the gum.
“Huhhhhhhhhhhh… … .”
It’s been three days since mentoring started.
Today, as always, I had a close-quarters one-on-one duel with Dang Gyu-yeong.
Dang Gyu-yeong utilized shadow magic to implement all kinds of attacks that melee classes can perform.
As was already proven from the first day of mentoring, there was absolutely no chance that Hong Yeon-hwa could beat Dang Gyu-yeong one-on-one.
It’s even more frustrating because there are restrictions on close combat.
In the end, you just get beaten up and dusted.
Still, it was worth getting beaten up, as my skills improved so quickly and rapidly.
As I struggle and twist my body to avoid getting hit by even one more hit, I find myself getting used to close combat without even realizing it.
For example, if you hit 100 on the first day, you hit 99 on the second day, 98 on the next day, 97 on the next day… … .
But if I had to name one major problem, it would be that I don’t know if my mental strength will hold up.
Sure, my skills will improve quickly tomorrow, but doesn’t that mean I’ll get hit 96 times anyway?
Besides, I’m sure they’ll understand in a day or two, but isn’t the mentoring period 4 weeks?
‘It’s only Wednesday… … ?’
There are still 3 weeks and 4 days left for mentoring… …?
The more Hong Yeon-hwa thought about it, the darker her vision became.
Another thing that makes Hong Yeon-hwa gloomy is that, despite growing at such a frightening rate, she hasn’t even touched a sticker yet.
It’s hard enough trying to avoid getting hit, so how are you supposed to remove the sticker in the meantime?
It seemed like I still had a lot more time to improve my skills, so I couldn’t even think about a face-to-face match and there was a high chance that I would end up with a 50-point deduction.
I don’t know about the other team members, but for Hong Yeon-hwa, who had lost a lot of points in individual matches here and there—mainly because she lost to Kim Ho-han—the 50 points were fatal.
“pooh…….”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who was twice as depressed, let out a long sigh while lying face down.
‘Let’s go in and rest… … .’
After struggling to get up, I started walking towards the Ruby Tower clubroom.
Wouldn’t eating the cake you left in the store relieve some of your stress?
The footsteps that had been trudging along became a little lighter.
* * *
however…….
It seemed that fate had no intention of allowing Hong Yeon-hwa to rest in peace.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who entered the office, looked for her older sister first as usual.
“Sister, the cake I bought yesterday… … Huh.”
I tried to ask, “Did you touch the cake I bought?” but my words were cut off mid-sentence as I gasped for breath.
“… … .”
There before me was a person who should never have been here.
Kim Ho sits politely and tilts his teacup.
Hearing Hong Yeon-hwa’s voice, he slowly turns his gaze.
When a cold gaze is directed at you, your body instinctively shrinks.
Sitting across from her is Hong Ye-hwa, Hong Yeon-hwa’s older sister and the president of the Ruby Tower club.
And Hong Yeon-hwa’s cake placed between the two.
It seemed like he had arrived just before the forking.
If it had been the same, Hong Yeon-hwa would have been furious, but she didn’t even have time to get angry.
“No, what is this, what, what the heck?”
I was so flustered that my words came out intermittently.
On the other hand, Hong Ye-hwa greeted Hong Yeon-hwa as if she had been waiting for her.
“You came at a good time. We were talking about you anyway.”
“Sister, sister, sister, come out for a minute.”
“why?”
“Just hurry up, just a moment.”
Hong Yeon-hwa grabbed her sister’s wrist and dragged her away.
After Kim Ho came out of the room out of sight, he asked.
“what?”
“what?”
“That!”
“What is that?”
“That guy!”
Hong Yeon-hwa swung her sword wildly in the direction where Kim Ho was sitting.
Although his attitude was urgent, as if he had let a vicious monster loose in the room, Hong Ye-hwa’s response was lukewarm.
No, rather, it seemed like he really liked Kim Ho.
“The kid is pretty good. He’s respectful to his seniors and has good manners.”
“What, what?”
Hong Yeon-hwa doubted her ears.
Is the child okay… …?
Do you have good manners…?
Is this the Kim Ho-rang I know different from the other person?
Hong Yeon-hwa was speechless because she was so shocked.
In fact, it was natural for there to be a temperature difference between the sisters.
Unlike Hong Yeon-hwa, who had first-hand experience with Kim Ho in the interpersonal battle, Hong Ye-hwa had only heard that her younger brother had lost several times.
It is inevitable that one will take a relatively neutral position.
When Kim Ho suddenly came to Ruby Tower, I was a little wary, but I welcomed him as a guest because I thought I could at least hear his story.
The large ruby that was presumed to have been received from Hong Yeon-hwa was also reason enough to welcome her as a guest.
After sitting like that for a while and listening to our conversations, I found it quite informative and satisfying.
Because I was able to resolve a lot of the things I was curious about about Kim Ho, but was frustrated because Hong Yeon-hwa wouldn’t say anything.
“You’re in the same group as him in terms of mentoring?”
“Did that guy talk?”
“I asked first, why.”
Since Kim Ho was also a first-year student, the conversation naturally turned to mentoring.
I asked a simple question like, “Do you receive mentoring?” but I had no idea that I would be in the same group as my younger sibling.
This was also one of the things that ‘Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t say anything about’, so I asked her in more detail, and Kim Ho seemed to think there was no need to hide it, so he shared the information to the extent of his knowledge.
“You didn’t even take off a single sticker. You never listened to me when I told you to practice close combat, so I knew you would do that.”
“No, is it just me? The other kids couldn’t get it either!”
“That sounds good, really? Because you have a lot of similar friends?”
The sisters faced each other and growled as usual, but since they had guests over, they didn’t throw fireballs at each other.
Hong Ye-hwa spoke in an orderly tone.
“Anyway, in this match, you take off all the stickers. I asked you to do that too.”
It seemed like some kind of deal had already taken place between the two.
Since they are a pair, it is natural for Kim Ho to help her, but the crucial role of removing the stickers is given to Hong Yeon Hwa.
Instead, Hong Ye-hwa would have paid the corresponding compensation.
Hong Yeon-hwa became even more excited and let out a gasp.
“Why do I do all that?”
“Then, you’re not going to do it? Were you just going to take the bus?”
As Hong Ye-hwa’s expression hardened and grew colder, Hong Yeon-hwa answered in a voice that was starting to crawl away.
“That’s not it… … . Miss, I understand, I can just take it all off.”
“That’s right. And, among the crew members, there are Song Cheon-hye and Gwak Ji-cheol.”
A blazing flame burned in Hong Ye-hwa’s eyes.
“I understand that I may lose to Kim Ho-han for a while. But I absolutely have to beat those two.”
It seems like there’s quite a gap in skill between him and Kim Ho, so asking him to surpass him right away is an unreasonable request.
Wasn’t that what you applied for in the first place, mentoring, to develop your skills?
Besides, for some reason, rumors don’t seem to spread very well, so there’s no need to rush into a revenge match.
However, the story of Song Cheon-hye and Kwak Ji-cheol is a little different.
Song Cheon-hye is a leader, but is closely connected to the Topaz Tower, and Gwak Ji-cheol belongs to the Emerald Tower.
Although they are in a cooperative relationship as members of the same magic tower, they are also rivals who constantly compete.
If Hong Ye-hwa heard the words, ‘Ruby’s tower is inferior to topaz and emerald’, she wouldn’t know what to do in her uncontrollable anger.
Hong Ye-hwa emphasized this again and again.
“Three stickers. It’s okay if you can’t remove them all. But you have to remove more than them. Got it?”
“I know.”
And in this part, Hong Yeon-hwa also had the same thoughts as my older sister.
I can never lose to Mataphoe.
Especially since she usually hated being compared to Song Cheon-hye, she was determined to somehow achieve better results.
As Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes began to burn, Hong Ye-hwa felt secretly happy.
I was a little worried when I saw him get scared the moment he met Kim Ho, but it seems like his fighting spirit hasn’t died yet.
“Of course. Let’s go in now.”
“Huh? Should we go in… …?”
Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly thought about whose face she would see again.
For a moment, the pupils quickly shake left and right, and then slowly begin to step back.
Hong Ye-hwa grabbed Hong Yeon-hwa’s wrist.
Smiling brightly,
“This place is defective, where should I go?”
“Ah, no, I think I’ll just go to the dorm and rest today. My health is a little bit—”
“Come quickly. I don’t want to keep the guests waiting.”
Hong Ye-hwa dragged her younger brother into the office.
Kim Ho was sitting in the same spot as before, pouring his tea in the same manner.
As we get closer, we feel Hong Yeon-hwa’s burning fighting spirit rapidly fading away.
Hong Ye-hwa looked at her younger sister with a mixture of displeasure and worry, then sighed inwardly.
‘Time will tell… ‘
I have a small hope that if I continue to mentor and support them, they will overcome it on their own.
Quickly manage your expression and put a businesslike smile on your lips.
“Sorry, did I keep you waiting for a long time?”
“No. I needed time to think too.”
“Then, as we discussed earlier, I ask you to take good care of Yeonhwa.”
“Yes, senior.”
Hong Ye-hwa, with her soft and gentle tone, and Kim Ho, who is polite and courteous.
I feel a serious sense of disconnect from what I usually see.
Hong Yeon-hwa was speechless and had no choice but to watch the conversation between the two.
