Episode 150: Hong Yeon-hwa in Trouble
Quicksand.
It is a magic that summons sand, and its uses are largely divided into two.
The first is to desertify the surrounding environment, breaking down hard rocks into small pieces like sand, and linking them with local magic.
“Kuuu—!”
As the ogre was attacking Gwak Ji-cheol, a large sand wall rose between the two.
When the club strikes it, it shatters lightly and sand flies away.
But then the sand that had been blowing away gathers again and builds a new wall.
An ogre advances, smashing through the sand wall without a care.
“Huh?”
Then suddenly the guy lowered his gaze.
The area has turned into a sand pit, and your legs will sink in.
‘It’s a good start.’
Flexible defense and foot binding through sand magic.
The only regret is that
‘The rank is too low.’
Thanks to practicing various magics at the Emerald Tower, I can come up with the right ones for the situation, but my proficiency is far from being up to standard.
The area where desertification has occurred is narrow, and the depth into which the ogre’s feet sink is shallow.
‘But sand is still useful.’
Sand gathered again in front of the ogre, forming a wall as he stepped out of the water.
He swatted the flies away with his arms and swung his club.
– Boohoo!
“Ugh… … .”
After barely avoiding the blow by flying, Kwak Ji-cheol manipulates the sand again.
I gave some advice to that guy.
“You’re still trying to block it. Then you won’t have any free time. Don’t block it and just let it flow.”
“So how do you— ugh!”
– Phew!
I kicked Kwak Ji-cheol away, and the next moment, a club came down on that spot.
Kwak Ji-cheol rolls around and gets up to get his posture right.
The ogre kept trying to attack, but I blocked his path.
“Just pour it out like this.”
“Kuuu—!”
Let’s link Windforce and Twister to the arm that’s waving as if it’s annoying.
– Thud!
The arm’s trajectory was turned to the side.
It was a move that was also shown against Mokjonghwa’s wooden golem.
At this point, I left the place for us to have some more time alone.
“Now, try following me.”
“No. How about that?”
But whether or not this seemed possible to Kwak Ji-cheol, the ogre would not stop attacking.
After jumping to avoid the club that was sweeping the floor, Kwak Ji-cheol pointed his staff at the ogre.
Sand clumped up in the air, trying to deflect the bastard’s attacks, but it was too clumsy.
I kicked Kwak Ji-cheol again just before he was about to get hit.
“Ugh.”
“again.”
“Can you stop kicking me?”
“Do you want to get hit by an ogre or do you want to get hit by me?”
Kwak Ji-cheol’s eyes looked back and forth between the ogre and me.
“… … Let’s continue like this.”
The conclusion is that it is better to be kicked than to be beaten with a club.
Actually, I could have been gentle, but I deliberately didn’t.
‘Learn it slowly and at what age.’
If he were a calligrapher, he would have seen it once and copied it, but Gwak Ji-cheol couldn’t get the hang of it even after several trials and errors.
I don’t know how much longer it would take here with the normal method.
Even though I was asked to do it and was being paid for it, I had no intention of spending much time with Kwak Ji-cheol.
So here’s my conclusion.
‘Hit with attributes.’
And a traditionally effective way to hit with an attribute is to inject pain that causes the whole body to twist.
– Phew,
“Ugh.”
Kwak Ji-cheol was kicked again and rolled around on the floor.
“Get up. Keep going.”
But soon he got up and faced the ogre.
The guy’s eyes were filled with venom.
* * *
The Kwak brothers’ request was only secondary.
As this is the last week of mentoring, my top priority is to develop my skills.
So I kept kicking Kwak Ji-cheol around and continued to harass the ogre with wind magic and one-point explosion.
[‘Twister’ rank increases. D+->C+]
[‘One-Point Explosion’ rank increases. E->D]
You can level up the ranks of new skills one by one.
Windforce and Twister have entered the stagnation period at C-rank, but if you don’t slack off on your ranked works, you will quickly reach B-rank.
So the ranked work will continue throughout this week.
However, the time that Dang Gyu-yeong could watch over us was limited.
I’m a third-year student and the president of a club, so I’m busy with my personal schedule.
We also need to be careful about the black market.
Since the mentoring schedule for the day was over, that meant I wouldn’t receive the event bonus, so I moved on to the next training session right away.
Finishing the broken mana practice and making the elixir’s energy mine.
So I walked to the training center,
‘Someone is following me.’
I feel a presence behind me.
At first I thought the fencing club had started to move, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
If it’s tailing, no matter how careless you are, you won’t be right behind them.
Footsteps follow me, but when they get too close, they hesitate and slow down.
And as the distance increases, it follows you again, scurrying along.
Before I turned around to check, I thought of a few people.
The calligrapher is the type who comes up to me as soon as he sees me and gently grabs my sleeve.
Dang Gyu-young is also the type to stick close, put a hand on his shoulder, and ask, “Hey, where are you going?”
Song Cheon-hye walks beside me at full speed, and if I continue to ignore her, she calls out, “Excuse me!”
Since the footsteps behind do not apply to either of these two, the conclusion we arrive at through elimination is.
‘It must be Hong Yeon-hwa.’
If that’s the case, then that hesitant attitude can also be explained.
You want to talk to her, but you feel scared and hesitant for some reason.
‘I can’t help it.’
I have no choice but to go first.
I pretended not to know and kept walking.
Then suddenly he turned around and shouted.
“Wow—!!”
“!!!”
As expected, Hong Yeon-hwa was standing behind him.
I was so surprised that my whole body froze up with my eyes wide open.
Soon, Hong Yeon-hwa started to run backwards in a panic as if she had forgotten how to walk, and almost fell backwards.
But just before it fell, I used Windforce to block it.
“Are you okay?”
“Dog, what are you doing… … .”
“Then why are you following me from behind? It’s so suspicious.”
“sorry…….”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, what’s wrong?”
Hong Yeon-hwa answered hesitantly.
“That, that… … My sister said thank you and asked me to stop by the club room when I have time… … .”
It is not difficult to guess what Hong Ye-hwa is thankful for.
It must be because Hong Yeon-hwa defeated Bukgung Han-seol in the 4 vs. 4 match.
Hong Yeon-hwa entered Yongsal Academy but has not shown any notable performances yet. The main reason for this is that she lost once in the placement test and started with a score of 600.
It is inevitable that there will be a comparison with other promising players who are quickly taking down strong players with scores in the 900s, and I guess there will be talk that Hong Yeon-hwa is the lowest among the promising players, even if I don’t know for sure.
As Ruby Tower’s Vice President Hong Ye-hwa, she must have been seething with anger every time she heard something similar.
In this match, Hong Yeon-hwa easily won against Bukgung Han-seol.
That was a perfect game against a score of 900.
It was like pouring rain during a drought, or rather, cider.
It seemed as if Hong Ye-hwa was smiling broadly.
And the person who contributed greatly to it is,
‘Right away.’
Although they did help each other to melt the Eternal Iron Alloy, it is also true that Hong Yeon-hwa’s Aqua Flame rank went up as a result.
If it weren’t for C-rank, I wouldn’t have had such an overwhelming advantage over Bukgung Hanseol.
Also, Hong Yeon-hwa has been sparring with me all week and has improved her proficiency with the improved Fire Pillar, and has also become very adept at operating the magic circle.
It was thanks to this that I was able to play around with Bukgung Hanseol throughout the game.
For the above reasons, Hong Ye-hwa cannot help but express her gratitude to me.
“And… … there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
It was also very obvious what he wanted to discuss.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s Aqua Flame stagnated at C rank again.
In order to grow further, a hint was dropped that you must enter a ‘dungeon with many ice attribute monsters’, and of course, that would be the underground dungeon.
So, you might want to hear more details.
But I shook my head slowly.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t have time for a while. I’ll make sure to stop by soon.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
As for the basement, we should focus on dealing with the fencing club.
So, even if we discuss Aqua Flame, going into the underground dungeon will have to be postponed until later anyway.
Also, Aqua Flame is a C-rank, so it is already strong enough, and Hong Yeon-hwa has many other skills and characteristics that can be developed.
What I’m saying is that there’s no rush for either of us.
“Nothing more to say? Let’s go.”
“Over there, over there!”
Hong Yeon-hwa called me back as I was about to turn away.
“Uh, why.”
“That’s… … big!!”
“big?”
I wondered what he meant by that, but his voice seemed to get choked up as he spoke too quickly.
Hong Yeon-hwa took a deep breath and continued speaking.
“Hey, coffee! Do you like it?”
“I’ll just eat it if it’s available, but should I buy it for you?”
Hong Yeon-hwa nodded quickly.
And then he continues to speak, stammering.
“I, I’m grateful too… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa herself would be the one who is most grateful for having defeated Bukgung Hanseol.
So, in return, I’ll buy you some coffee.
Rather than rejecting something like that, I nodded coolly.
“Okay. I’ll eat well.”
“… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s face brightened.
So we went to the store.
I chose my usual iced coffee,
Hong Yeon-hwa added an Americano with a certain number of espresso shots, but it was very dark and thick… … .
‘petroleum?’
If you put your mouth in that kind of thing, you’ll probably lose your tongue, but Hong Yeon-hwa’s attitude is as natural as drinking water.
We can infer that he usually enjoys that combination.
I guess it’s because it’s my taste.
We sat side by side on a bench near the store, sipping coffee in silence.
“… … .”
Meanwhile, Hong Yeon-hwa keeps glancing at me from the corner of her eyes.
When our eyes met, he quickly lowered his eyes and focused on his coffee.
But I saw a hint of worry on his face, so this time I asked first.
“What’s bothering you?”
“Oh, no? There’s nothing?”
“I think so.”
When I gave him a questioning look, Hong Yeon-hwa slowly avoided eye contact and answered.
“… … A little?”
“Is the strategy not going well?”
“No, the strategy battle is worth it.”
On the first day, I tried to compete with Song Cheon-hye to see who could deal more damage, but it was meaningless because Ogre didn’t fall.
After that, I advised them to start from the basics, and the two of them readily accepted that advice and are currently focusing on recharging crystals.
And since both Hong Yeon-hwa and Song Cheon-hye are capable of avoiding the Ogre’s attacks without the help of a partner, the highest score in the strategy battle is confirmed.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“that is…….”
Hong Yeon-hwa fiddled with her coffee cup for a moment and then opened her mouth.
