Episode 160: The Swordsmanship Club (3)
The second-year senior took the lead and introduced himself as Ma-ga-ung.
As I had guessed when I heard the words from Dang Gyu-yeong, it seems that Ma-dae-woong has other business besides taking me to the club office.
If you look at the remote alley where we arrived, you can see that.
I looked around, pretending to be naive, and asked.
“This isn’t a fencing club?”
“Of course not. I’ll take you to the manager later.”
“Then what about now?”
Then, Ma-dae-ung began to lose his momentum with a sullen smile on his lips.
“You’ll have to pay the price for recklessly taking what belongs to others. Did the fencing club seem easy?”
“It’s not easy… … . Wouldn’t it be right to first have a conversation and then pay the price? I think that’s what they want too.”
“We don’t all have the same intentions.”
“But if we’re going to do it anyway, I think the manager’s wishes should come first.”
“Not for me.”
The discipline in this neighborhood is quite lax.
How can you so easily disobey the instructions given by the vice-chairman?
Somehow, I think it makes sense that they set up the situation like this.
This is probably an opportunity to break the nose of the Ma-gak-woong faction.
For me, it wasn’t a bad situation.
If you can return the Black Death replay privately after every fight, it’s a good deal.
“So, you want to do it yourself?”
However, it is against school rules for an upperclassman to touch a lowerclassman.
Even Ma-da-woong knew that fact, and the smile on his lips deepened.
“Of course other guys will deal with it.”
And he nods behind me.
When they appeared, two first-year students were walking slowly from the front and back.
I looked at them one by one, but they were not faces I remembered.
So I asked.
“Friends, shall we start by introducing ourselves?”
“withdrawal.”
“It’s Minsu.”
Chulsoo and Minsu each spoke briefly.
It’s better than not responding at all, but it reeks of an alias, so it’s the same.
Just as I was about to ask another question, Ma-Da-Woong’s instructions cut off the conversation.
“Let’s just get started.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
The blades slipped out of Cheolsu and Minsu’s scabbards.
A clean sword strike that makes no sound.
I looked at Cheolsu and gave him a compliment.
“Good posture.”
“Thank you.”
Cheolsu calmly accepted the compliment and walked slowly with his sword hanging down.
As the distance narrowed, Cheol-su’s hand became blurry for a moment, and I had the illusion that a single flash of light split my vision in half.
It was an incredibly fast swordsmanship, to the point where it was difficult to even react.
Of course, I had anticipated and started moving before he even came out, so I was able to dodge by taking a half step to the side.
And then I immediately turned around because Minsu attacked me from behind.
The two men immediately retrieve their swords and stab each other as soon as their first attack fails.
It tries to split the heart in the front and the spine in the back.
‘Is it necessary to be this brutal?’
Each attack targets a critical point on the human body.
When it hits, it doesn’t taste spicy, but it looks like it ascends.
There was still much to be done for world peace, so I took a step forward, casting a thief’s gait.
The swords barely pass me by.
After stabbing and cutting several times, but failing repeatedly, the watching Ma-dwoong spoke as if talking to himself.
“You’re definitely good at dodging… … . Speed up.”
“… … .”
At his direction, Cheol-su and Min-su stepped back for a moment and exchanged glances.
After a while, the momentum of the two seemed to change slightly and they attacked again.
– Wedge wedge wedge!
It’s the same as surrounding me from the front and back and linking attacks, but the speed is getting faster.
I think I know what the person behind them is aiming for.
‘I’ll overwhelm you with speed, that’s what I’m saying.’
Actually, it’s not a wrong strategy, as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.
Of course, that speed is based on not using overheat, so if you want, you can press down with an even more overwhelming speed.
but,
‘There’s no need to show everything already.’
Because my relationship with them can’t end with just today.
So I chose the second best option.
-Boom!
Dark clouds rose from the sky.
I wrapped a cloud around the root and gently placed it against the tip of the sword of the approaching Cheolsu.
When it touches the dark cloud, the blade bounces off and the trajectory of the sword strike bends to the side.
“… … !”
Withdraw, immediately retrieving the sword.
It was a quick reaction, as if I had expected this, but it was inevitable that the attacks would be halted for a moment.
In the meantime, I turned my attention to Minsu, who was stabbing me from behind with a sword.
– Boom, boom!
Compressed mana exploded twice.
It is a memorization granted to the root that stores the explosion twice and then releases it in an instant.
Minsu’s body stiffens for a moment after being hit by an unexpected counterattack.
Before he could even react,
– Boom!
A burst of compressed air blew him away.
‘Let’s put that aside for now.’
I turned my body forward again and quickly turned my head back,
– Wedge!
A ray of light passes across my cheek.
Even though it was a one-on-one battle, Cheol-su’s momentum did not wane, but rather seemed to become more fierce.
‘It’s pretty good.’
I changed my tactic to pushing away Cheolsu’s attacks with dark clouds rather than avoiding them.
And he didn’t forget to mix in a one-point explosion every now and then.
– Boom, boom!
Cheolsu’s reaction was great this time too.
Even if it only shows signs of a clump of mana gathering, it avoids it and at the same time continues to attack without stopping.
However, since the explosions often came from places the guy never expected, the damage was accumulating little by little.
“… … How annoying.”
“Thank you.”
There were dozens of battles in a short period of time.
A thought that comes to mind.
‘No matter how much I think about it, I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere.’
When we first met, I felt a sense of awkwardness, but I was hesitant.
But as I continued to deal with it, the true nature of the feeling of déjà vu became clearer.
Ordinary pseudonym, ordinary appearance, ordinary weapon,
But the swordsmanship is full of life… … .
I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and opened my mouth.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Something.”
“By any chance, is your last name Jang? Jang Cheol-su?”
“… … !?”
Cheolsu flinched as he stabbed with his sword.
Seeing that made me even more confident.
“Is it a long coat?”
“……no.”
“Isn’t that a long coat?”
“No.”
“Then, is Minsu there Wangpil??”
“I said no.”
However, it seems that he got the correct answer, as his composure was noticeably disturbed.
Jang Sam and Wang Pil, who were caught as opposing teams in a 2-on-2 match.
At that time, it was the concept of Jeomsoi and the gatekeeper, but today it has returned to the concept of Cheolsu and Minsu.
“Hey, nice to meet you. It’s nice to see you again like this.”
“… … .”
Jang Sam stopped attacking, perhaps because he had lost his strength.
Wang Pil, who was approaching from behind, also appears to be the same.
Then, with a sour look on his face, Ma-da-ung gave another order.
“What are you standing there blankly? Fight.”
“… … .”
To Cheolsu and Minsu, or rather to Jangsam and Wangpil, Ma-dae-woong would be an upperclassman and a club senior.
It is a position that cannot be disobeyed.
So I’m going to settle back down and resume the fight.
– Kookookookook,
Suddenly a wooden door popped up.
In this Yongsal Academy, the wooden door has only one meaning: Kwak Seungjae’s unique magic.
So, Ma-dae-woong made a face and bluntly spat out at Kwak Seung-jae, who was walking out.
“No matter where you go, you never get lost.”
“If I am innocent, what does it matter where I am?”
“… … .”
The shameless barbarian shut his mouth for a moment.
Kwak Seung-jae looked around the room carefully.
“Three in the swordsmanship club and one unaffiliated first-year student… … I can guess, but I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself.”
When the wooden door suddenly popped up, Ma-dae-ung was momentarily flustered, but he returned to his relaxed attitude and made excuses.
“Our juniors wanted to test their skills, so I was there to observe as a senior.”
“Let’s test our skills… … . 2 on 1, you mean?”
“Is there any reason why it shouldn’t be 2 to 1?”
“There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be done. But wouldn’t it be right to distinguish the locations?”
“What’s wrong with here?”
Kwak Seung-jae said in a blunt tone.
“A guy who knows keeps evading the question. I’ll tell you this while reminding the first-years of the rules. Any duels outside of the training center and the arena are against the rules.”
“There was something like that, I forgot.”
The big worm let out a sly laugh.
Although he was caught on the scene, he did not directly break any rules.
As a senior, I only have a moral responsibility for not stopping the first-year students from fighting outside the arena.
Kwak Seung-jae spoke while looking at the first-year students one by one.
“Disband. Next time you get a penalty.”
“Yes, senior.”
Jang Sam and Wang Pil bowed their heads and stepped back, and Ma Dae Woong also glared at me for a moment before turning his back.
As the three members of the swordsmanship club left, Kwak Seung-jae’s gaze naturally turned to me, who was still there.
When he asked with his eyes, “Why aren’t you going?” I asked him while picking up some dark clouds and roots.
“But how did you find out about this place?”
“A report has been received.”
‘I had a feeling that would be the case.’
Kwak Seung-jae appeared at a time that was too timely to be a coincidence.
Even if the detection ability is at a level that even third-year students would acknowledge, it would not be able to reach such a remote place.
This means that someone who was watching the situation filed a report.
And that someone must be someone from the vice president of the swordsmanship club.
‘The timing was perfect.’
If Kwak Seung-jae had been dispatched right after the battle broke out, Ma-dae-woong’s side would have been more suspicious, but I held out for a while and reported it before it was too late.
As a result, none of the first-year students who fought were hurt, and Ma-Bae-Woong and Bae-Mae-Woong failed to achieve their goal.
The deputy manager’s side even created an excuse to question Ma-geun-woong about why he disobeyed the order, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.
‘As expected, the position of deputy manager isn’t something just anyone can do.’
As I was about to leave, impressed by the neat work done, Kwak Seung-jae stopped me for a moment.
“Kim Ho.”
“Yes, senior.”
“How is Ji-cheol doing?”
Talking about my little brother again.
Could it be that Kwak Seung-jae’s only interests are the leadership and my younger brother?
Anyway, since it was a question that could have easily come up, I briefly summarized and relayed what happened during the mentoring over the past few days.
Let’s just embellish it a bit by kicking the ogre’s attack until it’s properly deflected.
“—So it’s increased quite a bit now.”
“I see.”
“I’ll give you the scores tomorrow, so you can look forward to it.”
If you just do as I practiced, I expect you will get a decent score, even if it is not a super high score.
Kwak Seung-jae looked at me for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“Honestly, I thought it would be nearly impossible, but he can do it. Thanks for the help.”
“We live by helping each other.”
“As I said before, I can’t promise much. But I will never forget this debt and repay it.”
“That’s enough.”
“I will go.”
After saying that, Kwak Seung-jae disappeared beyond the wooden door.
– Kukukukuku… … .
The wooden door disappeared into the ground, and I headed towards my original destination, the training center.
But soon after,
‘The training center seems far away today.’
Something happened that made me stop walking again.
Because Jang Sam and Wang Pil were waiting for me in front of me.
Since I had no reason to avoid it, I approached him straight ahead and asked.
“Why again? I said it was a violation of school rules.”
How long has it been since the leader came and went, and why are you arguing again?
But Jang Sam slowly shook his head.
“I didn’t come here to fight.”
“then?”
“… … I have something to ask you.”
