Episode 227: I’m going to scold you.
Above the sky where clouds float.
Kwak Ji-cheol stood on one of the steps and looked at the scoreboard.
His expression was not very bright.
“Whew… …. I guess it’s luck.”
[Kwak Ji-cheol 100% Kang Hee-chan 100%]
vs
[100% calligrapher, 100% Jeong Su-ji]
He has faced the calligrapher twice so far in one-on-one combat, and has lost both times.
Once he got sniped, and another time he got blown up by a shotgun.
‘It’s been about a month since we last met.’
About 5 weeks.
What changes have there been in each other’s skills in the meantime?
Has the gap in skill widened or narrowed?
‘Anyway, I won’t be as easily taken advantage of as before.’
Kwak Ji-cheol recorded his ‘dark history’ during the midterm exam and keenly realized his own lack of ability.
So I devoted myself to training much more actively than before.
While also asking for advice from the Emerald Tower seniors.
Thanks to this, his skills have improved noticeably in recent weeks.
Wouldn’t it be okay to say that we have a slight chance of winning?
Another piece of good news is that the calligrapher’s team member is Jeong Su-ji.
‘I know him well.’
Since Kwak Ji-cheol and Jeong Su-ji are from the same Emerald Tower and spend a lot of time together, they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside out.
Among them, the biggest weakness of Jeong Su-ji is,
‘Physical is lacking.’
Although he himself cannot be confident that his physical abilities are that great, Jeong Su-ji is almost at the weakest level.
If you can quickly defeat the weak point and create a 2-on-1 situation, you will have a chance of winning even if there is a skill gap between you and the calligrapher.
After finishing the calculations up to this point, Kwak Ji-cheol said to Kang Hee-chan.
“Let’s start with Jeong Su-ji. If we engage in close combat, we can take her down easily.”
“… … Okay.”
Kang Hee-chan answered dryly.
From the moment he entered the stadium, his gaze was fixed on the calligrapher across from him.
‘Pretty. Beautiful. Nice.’
There were many beauties around Kang Hee-chan.
Didn’t Cha Hyun-joo make the same face right away?
That’s because he has a crazy personality.
But even among those many beauties, Seo Ye-in stood out.
Usually, if you look drowsy or sleepy, or squat down and press on the clouds, you might feel a little bored, but even those appearances were attractive to Seo Ye-in.
Kwak Ji-cheol also understood why Kang Hee-chan was staring blankly at him, but a fight is a fight.
So I said something again.
“I wish you would concentrate.”
“……sorry.”
Only then did Kang Hee-chan come to his senses with a start.
Let’s analyze the calligrapher’s background, not his appearance.
I met the calligrapher in the Sampajeon in the volcanic area.
However, at that time, I was unable to fight because I went into hiding as soon as the match started, and I was the first to be eliminated after going one-on-one with Hong Yeon-hwa.
But later, when I checked the replay, I saw that Seo Ye-in beat Hong Yeon-hwa and took first place.
The compatibility between the wizard and the musketeer may have played a part, but it also meant that the calligrapher’s skills were outstanding.
‘Then I should take it seriously too.’
Kang Hee-chan put the small hand shield on his wrist into his inventory and took out a large tower shield instead.
Even though mobility may be somewhat lacking, it is best to get hit less than one time against a musketeer.
It would also be easy to block Jeong Su-ji’s checks.
Kwak Ji-cheol and Kang Hee-chan exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously.
Meanwhile, the calligrapher was crouching down, pressing down on the clouds, and listening to the plan that Jeong Su-ji was mumbling about.
‘… … I couldn’t do it.’
I was hoping Hong Yeon-hwa would show up, but it turned out to be the wrong person.
In fact, since it was already Friday, Hong Yeon-hwa likely had played all three of her quota matches.
Unfortunately, I have no choice but to scold those two.
Soon, the calligrapher got up from his seat, and as if that were a signal, the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
The calligrapher immediately becomes blurry and disappears.
He hid by wearing a transparent ghillie suit over his head.
“uh?”
Jeong Su-ji was suddenly left alone.
On the other side, Kwak Ji-cheol and Kang Hee-chan approach, jumping over the cloud platforms.
“No, over there. The operation is.”
Jung Soo-ji looked around and tried to talk, but there was no way she would get an answer since there had been no answer even before the game started.
In the meantime, the two opposing teams continued to close the distance.
Jeong Su-ji became anxious.
‘I have to run away first.’
If you stay still, you’ll just end up giving up your neck.
So she kicked the cloud platform with all her might.
Climb up onto the upper platform and jump upwards with all your might.
“joy.”
Kang Hee-chan and Kwak Ji-cheol laugh as if they find it funny.
Because they can get over the ledge much faster.
Kang Hee-chan is a sword and shield warrior.
Since it is a melee class, its physical abilities are bound to be different.
Although Kwak Ji-cheol’s physical abilities were at best only slightly better than Jeong Su-ji’s, the sand floating around him served as a foothold.
Recently, I changed course slightly and started practicing mainly sand magic. I carry a lot of sand in my inventory and use it like this whenever I need to.
So the distance between the three people only got narrower.
The more this happened, the more Jeong Su-ji’s urgency turned to gloom.
“Oh, don’t come!”
He tried to blast away dirt bullets as if he was going crazy, but Kang Hee-chan blocked them all with his tower shield.
And then I jumped up and stood on the same cloud platform.
“ah…….”
When Kang Hee-chan took a step forward, Jung Soo-ji took a step back.
Unfortunately, however, the cloud platform was not wide enough to continue to retreat.
Jung Soo-ji, who was soon cornered, thought.
‘I should do some exercise.’
– Boom!
Kang Hee-chan charged forward with his shield, and Jung Soo-ji’s new form bounced off him.
And then it just fell down.
“Ahhhhh—!”
But Kang Hee-chan didn’t know.
Just as he was about to charge towards the pond, the foothold behind him began to shake and a calligrapher appeared.
He threw the water purifier as bait and then came back to the rear.
Kwak Ji-cheol, who discovered it, called Kang Hee-chan in a hurry, but
“river-!”
The calligrapher was quicker to pull the trigger.
– Doo doo doo doo doo!
The magic bullets lined up from the back of Kang Hee-chan’s head to his back.
And then they exploded in a row.
– Pfft pfft!
“Oh my god!”
[Kang Hee-chan 99%]
[Kang Hee-chan 81%]
Kang Hee-chan’s mind became confused due to the sudden, tremendous shock.
His new body lurched once and then fell forward.
And then he fell down along the waterline.
[Jeong Su-ji – %]
[Kang Hee-chan – %]
‘No, I’m really going to go crazy.’
Kwak Ji-cheol wiped his face once.
Looking back, there were some suspicious aspects.
I had a feeling that he was giving up his teammates too easily, but it turned out to be a trap.
As a result, Jeong Su-ji and Kang Hee-chan were exchanged.
What remains is a one-on-one conversation with the calligrapher.
“… … .”
Gray eyes turned to Kwak Ji-cheol.
Then the gun was pointed at him,
– Doo doo doo doo!
He fired a barrage of magic bullets.
Of course, Kwak Ji-cheol manipulated the sand to create three layers of barrier.
‘It won’t be easy to break through—’
– Pfft pfft!
-The illusion was short-lived, as explosions occurred one after another and one side of the sand wall collapsed.
Magic bullets pouring in through that gap.
Kwak Ji-cheol’s stamina was completely reduced.
“Oh my.”
[Kwak Ji-cheol 99%]
[Kwak Ji-cheol 94%]
[Kwak Ji-cheol 88%]
Even as his mind was spinning, Kwak Ji-cheol moved the sand to repair the collapsed defense barrier and counterattacked by casting long-range magic.
[Sand Gatling]
[Sand Gatling]
– Doo doo doo doo!
Sand bullets shooting out.
The calligrapher moved back and forth on the small cloud platform with steps as light as feathers.
Then the bullets either missed the target by a large margin or just passed by as if they were trying to hit the target.
A calligrapher who evades like that while refilling bullets in his assault rifle and firing.
– Pfft pfft!
Once again, the sand wall crumbled and magic bullets swarmed in, hitting Gwak Ji-cheol.
[Kwak Ji-cheol 84%]
[Kwak Ji-cheol 79%]
“Ugh.”
‘… … They are no match for me.’
Only then did Kwak Ji-cheol realize.
He was proud of his own skills, but he realized that his calligraphy skills had improved even more.
The fact that the gap is not narrowing, but rather widening.
‘No, not yet.’
It’s not over yet!
Kwak Ji-cheol opened his inventory and took out more sand.
And then they built more and more layers of sand walls.
This is the extreme use of the turtle tactic.
‘Can I still get through this?’
It is true that the calligrapher’s attack power has increased, but with this level of defense, it would be difficult to penetrate with just an assault rifle.
He’ll have to switch to a shotgun or sniper rifle, which he figures will take quite a while to switch.
That’s when you have the chance to counterattack.
“… … .”
But contrary to expectations, the calligrapher fired his assault rifle without any hesitation.
– Pfft pfft!
There was an explosion, but it did not break through, perhaps because of the multiple layers of defensive walls.
But the relief was short-lived.
Kwak Ji-cheol felt the ground beneath his feet sink.
‘That’s right, here.’
“Cloud blast aaaaan—!”
Rather than breaking through the defenses, they shot clouds, leaving no place to stand.
When Gwak Ji-cheol, who was falling rapidly, checked below, fortunately, there was a cloud platform floating there.
‘Heaven help me!’
There’s no way it could end like this.
As soon as I land on that platform, I think I can do a quick repair and then continue the battle.
But the next moment, he couldn’t help but look upward and gasp.
“… … .”
Because the calligrapher was looking down on himself.
And because the gun was aimed at the cloud platform where he was trying to land.
Kwak Ji-cheol shouted urgently,
“no!”
– Doo doo doo!
The magic bullets pounded the cloud platform and caused explosions.
Because the foundation that would have accepted him had been scattered, Kwak Ji-cheol continued to fall.
“Kkaaaaaaah—!”
The calligrapher stared down with indifferent eyes, and opened his mouth for the first time since the game began.
“Okay.”
The wizard gave me a hard time.
[Calligrapher Jung Soo-ji Wins]
vs
[Kwak Ji-cheol Kang Hee-chan Lose]
* * *
After the calligrapher ‘scolded’ three people, including her teammates.
I contacted An Jeong-mi again.
It was to report on the progress of training.
“—In this way, I’ve seen some effectiveness in single-player battles with the D-rank explosive bullet. At this pace, I think I’ll reach C in no time.”
“I see. Thank you for your hard work.”
An Jeong-mi looked very satisfied.
It’s satisfying to see a human sloth participating in training with enthusiasm and even achieving results.
Whatever you bring me will be rewarding because it will be efficient.
I continued my report.
“I plan to solve the quest scroll during the week of the raid. The content requires me to go down into the dungeon.”
“I will trust and leave it to Mr. Kim Ho.”
At that moment, a calligrapher who had been rolling around on the table joined the conversation.
“I want to go down too.”
“Miss, haven’t you already obtained the qualifications for the basement?”
“Further down.”
The calligrapher added, shaking his head.
It means that you want to follow me and conquer a D-rank or higher dungeon.
This time, I thought I would get a firm ‘No!’ answer, but An Jeong-mi suddenly turned her gaze towards me and asked a somewhat unexpected question.
“Mr. Kim Ho, I have something to ask you.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“What are your plans for summer vacation?”
“… … !”
At those words, the calligrapher suddenly raised his head.
And then, with her eyes bright and sparkling as if to ask when I was sleepy, she grabs my sleeve and pulls it.
“Come play at my house.”
