The Support Ate it All

Boom—!

With a louder crash than expected, shards of ice scattered wildly, and the entire area turned hazy, as if covered in fog.

I couldn't see Song Cheon-hye right away, so I checked the scoreboard first.

[Song Cheon-hye 88%]

[Song Cheon-hye 83%]

"Looks like she hit it pretty hard."

A 5% drop in health from a single impact?

Well, she did pick up a ton of speed. No way she'd come out of that unscathed.

Soon, the flying ice shards settled down, and I dispelled the remaining Ice Wall.

So I spoke to her in a casual tone.

"Hey."

"……"

"How's the floor temperature? Nice and cool?"

"……"

No response, so I tried casting Wind Force.

Whooosh—

Still lying down, Song Cheon-hye slid across the ground.

Only then did she start to mumble something unintelligible.

"Hzmrgh…"

"So you're alive."

"Srrrthh…"

"Maybe you should make that replay private? Gotta maintain that Disciplinary Committee dignity."

"……"

Still face-down, she gave a slight nod.

I spoke in a mock-disappointed tone.

"But now I feel like I'm the one losing out. I don't get any points, and it's not like this hurts my reputation. Maybe I should go public with it?"

"Make it private, please…"

"Only if you get up right now."

At that, Song Cheon-hye instantly sprang to her feet.

She looked completely defeated. Her clothes were disheveled with bits of ice clinging to her hair and outfit, and one side of her face was slightly swollen like she'd been slapped.

I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again, and she noticed.

"What were you about to say?"

"Brush off the ice."

"And?"

"Doesn't seem like it'd make a difference."

It was still early in the match, so I figured she'd probably end up hugging the Ice Wall two or three more times.

"…….!"

Song Cheon-hye shuddered slightly.

Her face flashed through a storm of emotions. Like anger, fear, and embarrassment.

Meanwhile, I stayed completely calm.

"Come when you're ready. I'm heading out first~"

Just as I turned to run again, she started to ready her stance, then suddenly dropped her arms to her sides.

"……"

"What?"

"…I'm done."

"Couldn't hear you. What was that?"

"I said I give up."

I had to double-check my ears.

Did I really hear that right?

"You're forfeiting?"

"Yes."

"For real? Forfeit?"

"Why do you keep asking?"

"Because I didn't expect it. Weren't you the one telling me to give it my all every moment?"

Something about her grandfather, the mindset of a hero, or whatever it was she used to say.

That seemed to hit a nerve, and she looked away and started mumbling an excuse.

"It's just… with my current build, it's hard to catch you. I figured rather than wasting time, forfeiting now would be the rational decision…"

"Or is it that you're scared of slamming into another Ice Wall?"

"It's not that! That dumb Ice Wall!"

"Really?"

I cast Ice Wall again and nudged her gently toward it using Wind Force.

Whoooosh—

As she got closer to the wall, her face turned pale.

"S-Stop. Don't do it."

"But you said it's not scary."

"Not completely…"

"So it's a little scary?"

"…Just a tiny bit. This much."

Reluctantly, Song Cheon-hye admitted it.

Well, that little bit of honesty was good enough for me, so I gave her a nod.

"Alright then. Let's call it here. You can head out."

"O-Okay. You too."

She hurried over to the teleportation portal and exited the arena like she was running away.

Watching her go, I thought to myself:

Feels like I should count this as an achievement.

The guy who made Song Cheon-hye forfeit. That was me.

[Kim HoWin]

vs

[Song Cheon-hyeLose]

***

Once I stepped outside, I checked the notification message.

[Side Quest: 4th Week Duel Battle] (Complete)

▷ Objective: Complete 3 duel battle matches (3/3)

▷ 3 Wins Reward: [Copy – Trait] Slot +1

As expected, the highest achievement reward was an extra slot.

I decided to figure out what to register later.

After waiting for a bit, Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in also finished their matches and walked off the stage.

I looked at them one by one and asked:

"How was it?"

"It was a little different from regular duel battle matches. The fact that we had to fight with limited means was quite interesting,"

Go Hyeon-woo replied with a slight smile.

He probably performed better than usual in the Fixed Zone.

His overall stats might still fall just short of the top tier, but since everyone's stats were fixed at C-rank, it evened things out.

Even in the placement test's F-rank Fixed Zone, he ranked first in our grade.

On the other hand, Seo Ye-in looked clearly displeased.

So I asked,

"Did things not go well?"

"…I lost."

"To who?"

"That girl with the bad mouth."

As soon as she mentioned "bad mouth", a face flashed through my mind.

"Cha Hyeon-joo?"

"Mhmm."

"It's not surprising to lose to her."

The result made sense, all things considered.

Cha Hyeon-joo was a promising archer. She was undisputed number one among the first-year ranged attackers.

Seo Ye-in had beaten her during the three-way dungeon match, but that situation had several special conditions.

The terrain was too cramped for a proper bombardment exchange, and Cha Hyeon-joo's health had been heavily drained from traps and back-to-back fights.

It wasn't really a 1:1. It was more like a 1:0.7.

But this time, they faced off in perfect condition without those constraints, so the outcome reflected their true skills.

"Still, I'm curious how it went down. Let's take a look."

"Okay."

Soon, Seo Ye-in pulled out a crystal ball small enough to fit in her palm.

It was a replay of the match she just fought.

Go Hyeon-woo stepped in closer and said,

"I've always wondered how ranged types test their skills. I've heard Miss Cha is a promising student, so I'm sure there's something to learn."

A bit overly optimistic, maybe, but not wrong.

There was a chance Go Hyeon-woo might face Cha Hyeon-joo someday, so having more information couldn't hurt.

Soon, the crystal ball showed a dense forest scene.

The trees were thick and large rocks were scattered here and there. It was perfect for cover.

In the middle of that forest, Seo Ye-in and Cha Hyeon-joo stood facing each other.

Cha Hyeon-joo scowled and said something with a harsh expression, but Seo Ye-in ignored her and looked away.

Still, she must've heard her, because she briefly explained,

"She said something bad again."

"What a bad girl."

With a mouth like that, it's no wonder.

Just as Cha Hyeon-joo was about to snap back with another retort, the match began with a countdown.

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

Immediately, the two aimed their barrels and arrows at each other and blue trails crisscrossed the field in a blur.

Using their respective movement skills, they dodged the incoming attacks with precision.

Go Hyeon-woo stroked his chin lightly.

"So this is how bombardment matches go."

"It's a fight to see who hits more and dodges better."

The blue streaks continued flying back and forth without pause.

At first, both were dodging perfectly, but as the battle dragged on, they began to let some attacks through.

A magic bullet grazed Cha Hyeon-joo's ankle, and a magic arrow nicked Seo Ye-in's shoulder.

[Cha Hyeon-joo 98%]

[Cha Hyeon-joo 96%]

[Cha Hyeon-joo 93%]

[Seo Ye-in 97%]

[Seo Ye-in 94%]

[Seo Ye-in 90%]

But Seo Ye-in's health was dropping just a bit faster.

Go Hyeon-woo asked,

"Where's the difference coming from?"

"Looks like defense."

I rewound the replay and played back the scene that had just passed.

Just as a magic bullet was about to graze Cha Hyeon-joo's forearm, a thin layer of mana flared up and shielded the area.

[Cha Hyeon-joo 88%]

[Cha Hyeon-joo 88%]

"This time she didn't lose any at all."

"Looks like a type of defensive energy, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah."

It was a defensive trait that activated automatically when hit.

The defense itself wasn't particularly strong and there was a cooldown, but it was enough to give her an edge in a bombardment match.

"She's got something similar too, though."

I pointed to Seo Ye-in in the replay.

Faint turbulence deflected the incoming magic arrows. It was an added effect of [Featherstep].

Unfortunately, it fell just short of being a full-fledged defensive trait.

The rest of the match unfolded along the same lines.

Bit by bit, they chipped away at each other's health, but Seo Ye-in's was depleting a little faster.

Then, Seo Ye-in's body suddenly blurred and vanished.

It meant she'd activated [Ghost Dance], and Go Hyeon-woo leaned in to watch the replay even more closely.

"Looks like she's going for a decisive move."

"She's going to lose if this keeps up anyway."

But Cha Hyeon-joo wasn't the type to fall for the same trick twice.

Being a promising student, she was bound to have a powerful move of her own.

The moment she lost track of Seo Ye-in, she reacted immediately.

She drew in mana in an instant and began firing magic arrows in every direction.

The arrows didn't shoot out in straight lines. They bounced around like balls, ricocheting off the ground and cover.

Soon, Cha Hyeon-joo was surrounded by a barrage of rebounding magic arrows.

That's similar to how Jeong Jin-myeong handled it.

It was a method of neutralizing the opponent's evasion or stealth abilities through area attacks.

Crude, but effective.

Sure enough, Seo Ye-in wasn't able to get within the range and appeared slightly off from where she'd initially aimed.

A thick grenade flew through the air.

In response, Cha Hyeon-joo retreated using an evasion skill, slashed her hand through the air, and the bouncing arrows all surged toward one point.

Seo Ye-in found herself in danger instead, but at the last moment, she barely managed to escape by casting [Bullet Time].

Go Hyeon-woo let out a low hum.

"Hmm, they traded their trump cards. What a shame."

It wasn't a gain or a loss either way, but for Seo Ye-in, she had needed it to be a gain.

The bombardment match continued.

Until the full ten-minute time limit had run out.

[Seo Ye-in 64%]

vs

[Cha Hyeon-joo 77%]

The result was a decision victory for Cha Hyeon-joo.

We offered words of encouragement to Seo Ye-in.

"Still, that was a solid performance. The health difference wasn't even that big."

"I'm certain Miss Seo will turn it around next time."

Even so, Seo Ye-in kept her gaze fixed on the replay crystal.

A flicker of dissatisfaction passed through her gray eyes.

At the same time, she gently stroked the immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot, as if still regretting that she hadn't been able to register it in her slot.

I asked offhandedly,

"You want to teach her a lesson?"

"I will."

Then Seo Ye-in lightly tugged on my sleeve.

"I want a defensive skill too."

"Want to learn one?"

"I do."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have one more ultimate skill too?"

"Ultimate skill."

"How about doing some Hardship training too?"

"……?"

Seo Ye-in paused for a moment.

Seems she caught on that I was trying to sneak in an extra sale.

Still, after a brief moment of thought, she gave a small nod.

"……Just one stage."

"Sounds good."

Hey, it's better than a "later".

I silently thanked Cha Hyeon-joo.

She was like a rabid chihuahua, but I guess she was useful in moments like this.

Thanks to her provoking the sloth, I'll be able to push some proper training for a while.

I suggested to Seo Ye-in,

"Then let's go see the butler together."

Time to cash in on that Hye-seong Group card I haven't used in a while.