Episode 44 Duel (6)
“Would you please reconsider your retirement?”
Mok Jong-hwa continued to walk at a steady pace, only turning her head to glance at Kwak Seung-jae.
Then he opens his mouth again and walks forward.
“Why should I do that?”
“Haven’t you seen the duel?”
“You saw it. It was a really crappy, trashy duel.”
There was a hint of anger in Mok Jong-hwa’s tone.
Kwak Ji-cheol, who had been walking listlessly, looking at the floor, shrugged his shoulders.
Kwak Seung-jae didn’t even pay attention to his incompetent younger brother, but he continued to defend him verbally.
“I can’t say Ji-cheol did well, but I think this isn’t an act of God. A perfect game against the headmaster’s golem. How many first-year students can do that?”
Even a long-range attack using [Earth Cluster] on a 3rd grade golem.
Avoiding all of that perfectly and maintaining 100% stamina until the end was a difficult feat even for a first-year or second-year student.
Even if Kwak Seung-jae were in Kim Ho’s position, he would have allowed a few valid hits.
In other words, Kim Ho is a capable person who can do it.
If we evaluate this duel alone, he is a promising prospect, or even higher.
“It was a match that Ji-cheol deserved to lose. Resigning might not be an excessive action.”
“Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that he tampered with the emerald.”
“Did my brother really do all that cooking by himself?”
It was clearly Gwak Ji-cheol’s fault for running wild without knowing the subject and getting hit.
But if we look back at the cause, it is clear that it was also Mok Jong-hwa’s fault for pushing things too hard.
Mok Jong-hwa also admitted that fact deep down.
However, because he was upset that his shortcomings had been exposed, he stood there silently and glared at Kwak Seung-jae.
“Is the Student Leadership Team involved in the Emerald Tower events?”
“No. I just want to give you personal advice.”
“Is that advice telling you to turn a blind eye to your brother’s mistakes? They say that Kwak Seung-jae never lets his personal feelings get the best of him and always handles things with a straight face, but that’s an old saying.”
“It’s the same now as it was then. I just hope that the manager makes a fair judgment.”
Kwak Seung-jae’s face remained indifferent, without any change.
As he faced that face, Mok Jong-hwa gradually calmed down, feeling that it would be pointless to get angry.
Mok Jong-hwa wasn’t stupid either.
It is impossible to survive until the third year at Yongsal Academy and rise to the position of club president by luck alone.
Despite his occasionally violent temper, he was capable of at least a minimal amount of discernment.
The Gwak family is a long-standing family of earth magicians that form one axis of the Emerald Tower.
He has been a member of the Emerald Tower since birth.
I signed up for a club before I even entered school.
If you’ve caused serious trouble to the Emerald Tower, then I don’t know, but if you retire for something like this, there’s no way you can handle the consequences.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I’m asking for a chance.”
It is up to Mok Jong-hwa’s discretion to decide how many opportunities to give.
If you insist more, you can completely reverse the decision to resign, but that would be an infringement on the club’s rights.
It should only be limited to providing advice.
It was also true that Kwak Ji-cheol had damaged Emerald’s reputation, and he thought that he should pay the price.
Mok Jong-hwa’s mouth, which had been silent for a moment, opened.
“Two months. I’ll look at the rankings for the next two months and decide. Are you dissatisfied?”
“That’s enough.”
“joy.”
Mok Jong-hwa took a quick look at the brothers Kwak Seung-jae and Kwak Ji-cheol, then left them behind and walked away.
Half of it was to give the two of them time to talk, and the other half was because they both hated the sight of each other.
“… … .”
Kwak Ji-cheol was still depressed and couldn’t raise his head.
He’s a fearless bastard, but he’s scared in front of his older brother.
He must be very embarrassed in many ways, having made such a disgrace in front of his brother and having avoided retirement thanks to his help.
Kwak Seung-jae said in a calm tone.
But if someone who knew him well had heard it, he would have felt more affectionate than usual.
“That’s all I can do. The rest is up to you.”
“… … I’m sorry, hyung.”
“I’d rather hear you say you’ll do your best than an apology.”
“… …I’ll do my best.”
“Okay, you can go now.”
“… … .”
Kwak Ji-cheol tried to walk forward with strong steps.
Even Gwak Ji-cheol was sent away, and Gwak Seung-jae stood alone.
Then he spoke into the air.
“Song Cheon-hye.”
“!”
I felt a jolt from across the alley.
Song Cheon-hye slowly raised her head and approached me, hesitantly.
“… … Did you know… … ?”
“I told you before. You have no talent for hiding your body.”
Song Cheon-hye’s face turned red with embarrassment.
Regardless, Kwak Seung-jae continued to ask questions.
“What brings you to the arena?”
“I was just passing by and stopped by… … This… … .”
“I saw you hiding in the stands long before you started.”
“… … .”
Song Cheon-hye’s face turned even redder after being hit with a fastball full of punches.
As such, Kwak Seung-jae’s personality was the complete opposite of Song Cheon-hye’s, who was not honest.
He then offers some straightforward advice.
“You are a student leader. Don’t be shy or afraid, and show yourself confidently. At least it’s better than hiding awkwardly and getting caught.”
“… … I’ll keep that in mind.”
Kwak Seung-jae stopped there and moved on to the main topic.
“What was the content of the duel?”
“It was amazing.”
“Can you subdue him if you fight him directly?”
“… … I’m not sure.”
“I’m not sure, ra… … .”
Song Cheon-hye’s skills are definitely at the top of the first year.
He is so outstanding that he cannot even be compared to Kwak Ji-cheol.
Even Song Cheon-hye is not 100% confident of victory.
Because I don’t know what else Kim Ho might be hiding.
The wind magic that was just shown this time was something they had never heard of or seen before.
A person like that, with a score of 300, is being called a coward and is lowering his body?
There were many aspects that seemed questionable to Kwak Seung-jae and Song Cheon-hye.
“Your hands were clean?”
“Yes, I checked it carefully.”
The possibility that Kim Ho was the masked man that night could not be ruled out.
If he had used [Inferno Fist], the marks would have remained for several days even if the high priest had used healing magic, but there was not even a single scratch on his hand.
At this point, it would have been right to turn our attention to other suspects, but… … .
The freshman’s gaze kept bothering me.
An arrogant look that puts everything beneath oneself.
It was very similar to the atmosphere I felt when I first encountered the masked man.
But this is also only a feeling.
[Magnifying Glass] In order to obtain permission to use it, you must find at least one piece of clear evidence.
“I’m sorry. You’ll have to work harder.”
“I do this because I want to.”
“Please.”
Song Cheon-hye also felt motivated in her heart.
‘I will definitely catch you by the tail.’
* * *
Dang Gyu-yeong and Shin Byeong-cheol seemed like they wanted to chat with us a little longer, but unfortunately, it was time to go carry out the disciplinary action.
I’ll probably be assigned to dirty work like cleaning the wells.
The annoyance drips from his expression, but what can I do, that is the path that Dang Gyu-yeong has chosen.
This is the price you pay for eating a lot of forbidden items.
“… … .”
The calligrapher opened his mouth slightly and yawned for quite a long time.
For some reason, he seems to have become much more tired than before the duel.
The duel lasted at most ten minutes.
“Should I go to the dorm and sleep?”
“huh.”
He nods slowly and asks me before leaving.
“Did the shoes help?”
“Yeah, thanks to that I didn’t get hit even once.”
Even when breaking into the temporary storage, [Thief’s Step] alone was not enough to completely avoid Kwak Seung-jae’s barrage of dirt bullets.
It just didn’t show up because it was blocked by [Elemental Resistance].
If I had just taken the thief’s step this time, I probably would have gotten hit by at least a few pebbles.
The sneakers the calligrapher gave me were a great help in avoiding it completely.
“… … ?”
When we talked about shoes, Go Hyun-woo’s gaze naturally went down and he noticed that Seo Ye-in and I had the same sneakers.
The eyebrows slightly rise, and the corners of the mouth follow suit.
“You two… … Since when did you start wearing the same shoes?”
“What are you thinking?”
“It’s nothing special, I just like looking at it.”
Then, for some reason, the calligrapher gave a proper explanation.
However, I am starting to feel sleepy as I am reaching my limit.
“Kim Ho gave me a special lecture on magic bullets… … I gave it to him as a gift because I was grateful… … .”
“That happened.”
“Yeah… … . I’ll go and sleep now… … .”
“Come in, Miss Seo.”
“Get some rest.”
The calligrapher waved her hand slowly as a greeting and then headed to the dormitory.
Go Hyun-woo and I also had separate accounts to settle.
We each grabbed a drink from the store and stood in the same place as two weeks ago.
Each holding a glass of iced coffee.
The difference is that instead of drinking all at once like last time, Go Hyun-woo slows down his drinking and waits for me to speak.
I took a card out of my inventory and handed it over.
“Okay, take this.”
The look in Go Hyun-woo’s eyes became intense as he accepted it.
“This is what Kim Hyung said… … .”
Special Performance Room Season Pass.
You will have personally experienced the effectiveness of the special training room for two weeks.
My internal energy is building up rapidly day by day, so there’s no way I wouldn’t feel it.
However, the points consumed by going in and out of the special performance room for two weeks will be considerable.
As the leader of the strategy battle, the amount of points earned through replays is enormous, but it is now starting to run out.
With a season pass, you can freely enter and exit the special performance room throughout the semester without spending any more points.
It is a treasure beyond compare to the unmanned ones.
Go Hyun-woo looked down at the season pass with wavering eyes for a while, then suddenly bowed to me in a polite manner.
“Since Brother Kim kept his promise, I will keep my promise as well. If you need my sword, I will be with you anytime, anywhere.”
“Just wait. I’ll work hard until I get my initial investment back.”
“Haha, don’t expect it.”
We looked at each other and laughed lightly.
Then I asked.
“What is your [Core] rank now?”
“I climbed over a wall last week. It was a D-grade.”
“It’s fast.”
On the train, Go Hyun-woo’s core is E-rank.
It was a very low level even among first-year students.
Now, in terms of mana amount, we have barely escaped the lower ranks.
The progress is fairly fast, but it is not enough.
“C. Is it possible for you to do this sometime next week?”
“Umm… … .”
Go Hyun-woo thought for a moment and then answered.
“If I try harder than I am now, I think I might just barely get it. But why is it a C?”
“[Core] C is the stagnant section.”
Unless you’re a magical monster like Song Cheon-hye, most of the promising players will be at the end of the C tier.
That is, after achieving C, you won’t be pushed back much in a magic battle.
From then on, we can more accurately gauge Ko Hyun-woo’s skills.
Which parts are strong and which parts need improvement.
‘Next week is also the week of the big match.’
If things go as planned, there will be a perfect rule to test your skills.
The supporters eat it all
