Episode 43 Duel (5)
“Kwaaah!”
A rapidly rotating Earth Cluster smashed Kwak Ji-cheol’s face into pieces.
If the protective magic had not been applied, something terrible might have happened.
Release the Earth Cluster urgently to escape the suffering.
The debris scattered all over the floor seemed to reflect his psychological state.
After being hit by a similar number of times three or four times, even the most narrow-minded person will start to get the hang of it.
Thanks to his body suffering, Kwak Ji-cheol was able to figure out Kim Ho’s method with a fairly good accuracy.
‘Wind! It’s the wind!’
He played with himself by pushing and pulling himself with the wind.
The shameful scenes that had occurred because of it flashed before my eyes like a panorama, and I became even more angry.
Isn’t this guy really good at making people mad?
The moment I was about to cast another attack spell,
-Whew—
A gentle breeze brushed past Kwak Ji-cheol’s cheek.
My body trembled and I came to my senses.
‘This can’t go on.’
If you focus only on attacking without any preparation, you will only give him an opening like before.
First of all, you have to get out of the wind’s sphere of influence.
Kwak Ji-cheol’s staff glowed green.
The debris from the Earth Cluster that had just been released was piled up, forming a circular wall.
– Phew-!
But the next moment, a strong wind suddenly blew from behind and pushed Gwak Ji-cheol’s back hard.
He ended up slamming his face into the wall he had summoned.
“Ugh! This dog, this dog… … this bastard!”
Even while hugging the wall against my will, I moved my staff to build another wall behind me.
Finally, put the lid on and fill in the gaps, and your little stone fortress is complete.
Fortunately, the wind did not invade the fortress.
‘You took a breather.’
From now on, you can just watch the outside and induce a war of attrition with wooden golems and long-range magic.
“Wow… … . That really leaves me speechless.”
Dang Gyu-yeong shook his head.
Space defense, turtle tactics.
Although it was petty, it was a tactic often used to achieve victory.
The problem is that the person who uses that turtle tactic is Kwak Ji-cheol.
If you borrowed a 3rd year golem, you’d get cursed at even if you completely overwhelmed it the whole time, but space defense?
Dang Gyu-yeong pointed at the stage and teased Mok Jong-hwa.
“Hey, honestly, I’m more manly than that, right?”
“… …Shut up.”
Mok Jong-hwa replied as if he was chewing and spitting.
He also didn’t like Kwak Ji-cheol’s behavior very much.
If you want to establish Emerald’s prestige, winning the duel is important, but the content of the duel is also important.
But what an ugly sight it is.
Now, even if you win, you can’t even break even. It’s just a loss.
Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-yeong thought with his chin resting on his hand.
‘How are you going to get through that?’
Although it may be petty, when evaluated objectively, Kwak Ji-cheol’s fortress was quite solid.
It has a high level of proficiency as it has been used frequently, and with the bonus of the 2nd and 3rd year equipment, it has become even more powerful.
– Thud! Kwung!
Outside the fortress, wooden golems attack by turning the ground upside down, and earth clusters created here and there begin to shoot out gravel.
Kim Ho evades all of those attacks with quick movements.
It’s so fast that the feet in the sneakers are a blur.
‘I think our junior will win in the end.’
The worries I had the moment I first saw the Golem have now been greatly diluted.
[Kim Ho 100% vs Kwak Ji-cheol 68%]
[4:57 remaining]
Because Kim Ho’s stamina was at 100%.
That means we haven’t allowed a single valid hit so far.
On the other hand, Kwak Ji-cheol has accumulated quite a bit of damage.
If you keep dodging like this and use up all the time limit, you can finish it with a decision win.
‘But I don’t think he’s the type of person who would be satisfied with that.’
If he were to use Inferno Fist in front of Kwak Seung-jae, he would have done it, but it doesn’t seem like he has the personality to lead the match to a decision victory.
There must be more prepared.
“… … !”
“Miss Seo, do you see anything?”
“… … !”
The first to notice the change was the calligrapher.
In her ‘eyes’, most of Kim Ho’s information still appeared as question marks.
[Evidence?]
[??po?(?+ -> B?)]
However, information is not limited to being displayed in numbers.
It was visible to the calligrapher.
Kim Ho’s momentum suddenly soared.
The sneakers that were moving at incredible speeds while using [Thief Step] to the limit stopped.
Kim Ho stood in place and faced the wooden golem straight on.
Anyone who saw it would see that it was an incredibly reckless act.
It felt like I was going to get hit by a big wooden fist at any moment and get knocked out.
But just before being hit by the wooden fist, Kim Ho raised his hand and lightly touched it.
– Thud-!
The wooden golem’s fist bounced high up.
A pose with one hand raised high above the head.
The upper body was exposed defenselessly.
Kim Ho took a step closer and pushed her bare chest.
“Huh, huh?”
What Gwak Ji-cheol saw inside the fortress was the sight of two heavy wooden golem feet rising from the ground and approaching him at a frightening speed.
The ‘uh uh’ that was full of questions quickly turned into a scream,
“Huh!? Huh huh!! Eeeeeeeeeee!!”
– Kukukukung!!
Kwak Ji-cheol’s small treasure trove was terribly crushed by a flying wooden golem.
The Gwakji Railroad inside it.
“I……!”
“what……!”
Everyone who was watching was momentarily speechless in shock.
Ha Su-yeon also stood there with her mouth open in a daze for a long time.
‘oh my god.’
Goosebumps run down my back.
What Kim Ho created with [Blank Skill Book] was not something like the Hammer of Wind.
Dozens of times more powerful than that,
It was a typhoon that blew away the heavy wooden golem like a straw doll.
A little while ago, I was relieved that I had given Kim Ho a gift, but now I was thinking back and wondering if I had made a bigger mistake.
‘We reconciled… right?’
[Kim Ho 100% vs Kwak Ji-cheol 61%]
However, the fact that the match is still ongoing means that Kwak Ji-cheol is not yet incapacitated.
Sure enough, the collapsed rubble began to shake, and Gwak Ji-cheol crawled out with difficulty.
His face was pale and listless.
“… … !”
And as soon as I came out, my eyes met with Kim Ho’s.
Kwak Ji-cheol couldn’t understand why Kim Ho was pointing at him.
But when that finger points upward,
– Boohoo!
He felt incredibly buoyant, and the next moment he was floating several meters in the air.
“What, what is this?”
– Boom!
And then he just fell to the floor.
It was as if a transparent giant had grabbed him and thrown him down.
“Ugh… … Ugh… … !”
As Gwak Ji-cheol barely managed to get up, he saw Kim Ho pointing upward with his finger again.
His eyes grew wide.
“Oh, no—”
– Boohoo!
Kwak Ji-cheol shouted urgently while floating in the air.
“I… I lost! I surrender-”
– Boom!
“… … !”
– Boohoo!
– Boom!
After being beaten for the third time, Kwak Ji-cheol finally lost the thread of sanity he had been barely holding on to.
* * *
[Kim Ho Win vs Kwak Ji-cheol Lose]
“Phehhehhehheh!!”
Dang Gyu-yeong laughed heartily and slapped my shoulder.
I won, but I’m happier.
“Well done, well done! It’s just so exhilarating~! Phew phew phew phew!”
Go Hyun-woo, Seo Ye-in, and Shin Byeong-cheol in the stands are also approaching from afar to congratulate the victory.
On the other hand, the Emerald Tower camp had a completely portrait-like atmosphere.
Kwak Seung-jae is tending to his unconscious younger brother, while Mok Jong-hwa is covering her face with one hand.
For some reason, the Nature Club seems to be watching me closely.
Anyway, now it’s time to collect the money.
“… … .”
As I approached, Mok Jong-hwa shut his eyes tightly and suppressed his anger.
But a promise is a promise, take out the [Production VIP Ticket] from your inventory and hand it over.
Judging from the way his hands are shaking, he must really not want to give up.
By the way, what kind of item is that?
I opened my mouth after holding the ticket in my arms.
“May I make a suggestion?”
“… … What is it?”
“How about making this duel replay private?”
“… … !”
If this duel is made public, the Emerald Tower will suffer a huge blow to its image.
I provided third-year equipment and a golem to the first-year duel, but they just got beaten up one-sidedly.
Kwak Ji-cheol’s performance art of being pushed, pulled, and flying around here and there is a bonus.
If possible, I’d like to pretend it never happened.
So I was the first to extend the rope.
Mok Jong-hwa, who had been silent for a moment, asked again.
“In a duel, the one who accepts the offer only makes us a favorable offer after the stakes are at stake.”
“Where in the world is there such a thing as a free lunch?”
“There is no such thing as a merchant.”
“You won’t go anywhere and starve to death, will you? Will you accept it?”
It was an offer that Mok Jong-hwa could absolutely not refuse.
It would be cheaper to silence me somehow than to try to repair my damaged image.
“Tsk. Tell me what you want.”
“Nothing in particular right now, but I’ll just ask you to do me one small favor later.”
“If there’s a favor I can grant.”
“Okay, then I’ll make it private.”
I said it as a favor, but I also want the replays to be kept private.
The information about [Windforce] spreads slowly, the better.
It was also because he was confident that Mokjonghwa would accept this offer that he used Windforce in all sorts of ways during the duel.
Another reason is to pay off Mok Jong-hwa’s debt.
With Emerald, it’s almost like we’ve crossed the river of no return, but if we go any further, the fight is likely to get messy.
Breaking school rules is the norm, and mudslinging goes beyond that to dangerous boundaries.
I could knock them down as they come, but if that hinders my growth, that’s not a desirable outcome.
I also don’t want Seo Ye-in or Go Hyeon-woo to suffer any harm.
So this time, I gave in half a step and tied Mok Jong-hwa’s feet instead.
As long as you feel even a little bit of debt to me, you won’t be able to make a hasty move.
Of course, the nobleman is a bad person, so he may change his mind later, but
‘I guess I’ll be grown up enough by then.’
Enough to easily trample down the Emerald Tower.
Whatever their true intentions, on the surface it was a temporary truce.
Mok Jong-hwa nodded to me and turned his back.
Gwak Ji-cheol, who had come to his senses in the meantime, did not dare meet my eyes and followed Mok Jong-hwa, staggering with his gaze down.
Kwak Seung-jae gave me a cold look and then joined the Emerald group.
As I was watching their backs for a moment, two fingers gently pinched my cheeks and pulled them together.
“This, this, the more I look at it, the more it seems like a total idiot.”
“Senior, this is Noko Baby Heoshijo.”
I took Dang Gyu-yeong’s hand away from the ball.
He was originally someone who felt strangely distant, but after he suggested I join the club, I feel like we’ve become closer.
“The replay was private, so I calculated it all and threw it. And I didn’t suffer any losses.”
“You’re quick-witted.”
“You’re the manager for nothing. But what are you going to ask of Mok Jong-hwa?”
“I’ll have to think about it later. It’ll probably be similar to what I did to my senior.”
“Oh, right. Now that you mention it, I remember.”
Dang Gyu-yeong also agreed to grant my ‘small request’ in exchange for accessing information on [The Cube of Life].
That little favor,
– Please give some news to the president of the Magic Engineering Club.
– It’s better if it flows naturally.
– A freshman completed a 10x10x10 cube.
“How far has it progressed?”
“I already shed what I had shed a long time ago. I was also asked to do it.”
“A request?”
“He asked me to arrange a meeting place for him. What should I do?”
“That’s great. Let’s meet up.”
Before we move on to the next item, let’s try just one more.
The supporters eat it all
