The mark’s duration was only a few seconds at most.
But that seemed to put even more pressure on the other side.
Lee Seulbi looked like she wanted to hit me at least once, but she kept anxiously glancing down at her feet.
“......”
A blue circle was spread wide around her.
Whether she knew about [Pulverize Zone] or not, she had to know something was going to happen inside that area.
Most likely when the mark ran out.
And I had, in fact, set it to ten seconds.
‘If she gets out, great. If she doesn’t, that’s not exactly a loss either.’
The range was wide and the duration short, so it wouldn’t deal massive damage, but the important thing was landing a meaningful hit at all.
‘At least, from my perspective.’
From Lee Seulbi’s perspective, though, she had no way of knowing exactly how destructive it would be. Could she really make the call to just stand there and “take” it?
Mages—especially artillery types—weren’t used to messy brawls, so it would feel even more unpleasant to them.
In the end, Lee Seulbi hurriedly chanted a spell, and a small wave formed beneath her feet.
SHAAAAAA—
Then she rode it at high speed and escaped the blue circle.
Song Cheonhye was the same. To avoid the barrage of fireballs and the constant ice harassment, she had to move quite a long distance.
The next moment, both of them frowned and put hands to their heads at the same time.
“......Ugh.”
“Ah.”
Because the concussion effect had triggered.
Hong Yeonhwa and I didn’t miss the opening that created.
WHOOOOOO—
Song Cheonhye felt the wind gathering and compressing toward her, and confusion crossed her face.
Was this another fake, or was it really a wind spell this time?
‘That was all setup.’
The reason I’d kept making it sound like I was messing with her and kept up the mind games was for this exact moment—to raise the success rate of [Spiral Explosion].
Song Cheonhye seemed to decide that dodging first was the safest option no matter what, and tried to kick off the ground—
“......Ah.”
But she staggered before she could move far.
Because the effect of [Concussion Mark] was still lingering.
At that moment, I chained the rest of my skills together.
[You use ‘Diamond Freeze(C)’.]
[Duration 00:00:28]
[Cooldown 00:07:58]
After adding the effect ‘Frozen cannot be cleansed,’ I met Song Cheonhye’s eyes directly.
[You use ‘Octopus Arms’.]
[You use ‘Mutual-Destruction Eye(B)’.] *10
[The target is inflicted with the status ailment ‘Poisoned(B)’.]
[The target is inflicted with the status ailment ‘Weathered(B)’.]
[The target is inflicted with the status ailment ‘Frozen(B)’.]
......
WHOOOOOO—
CRRRRACK
Song Cheonhye immediately used a debuff cleanse.
No idea how many of those she’d prepared.
Of course, this time it was completely useless.
“......Huh?”
‘Because it can’t be cleansed.’
That, too, was part of the mind game.
When things keep working just fine and then suddenly stop working, anyone gets flustered.
Meanwhile, the wind was compressing further and further.
BOOM!
At last, it exploded violently.
[Song Cheonhye 99%]
[Song Cheonhye 88%]
Her health dropped in a flash.
‘This is when you press harder.’
WHOOOOOO—
Wind was gathering and compressing above my hand too.
Not [Spiral Explosion], but [Destructive Gale].
Since I had a copy slot free, I’d borrowed it from Seo Ye-in.
Song Cheonhye tried to counterattack even while staggering, but I thrust my hand forward a beat faster than that.
KWA-BOOOOOOOM—!
The compressed wind blasted straight ahead all at once, and she went flying backward like a leaf caught in a typhoon.
[Song Cheonhye 88%]
[Song Cheonhye 76%]
‘And it still isn’t over.’
The moment Song Cheonhye barely managed to steady herself and started getting back up, an arrow of fire came flying in.
It was compressed to the extreme and burned brighter than any ordinary flame: [Flame Arrow] with the explosive buff [Outburst] layered on top.
KWA-BOOOOOOOM—!
A huge explosion erupted, and the whole area turned into a sea of fire.
[Song Cheonhye -%]
The next moment, Song Cheonhye had vanished without a trace.
She’d been beaten so hard, so continuously, that she’d gone down without even a chance to catch her breath.
‘Now only Lee Seulbi is left.’
At this point, the match was basically decided already.
Lee Seulbi had already been losing even against Hong Yeonhwa with [Aqua Flame] sealed, and now it had turned into a two-on-one.
Lee Seulbi seemed to be thinking the same thing, because her face darkened, but even so, she didn’t lose her fighting spirit and began chanting another spell.
‘That’s how you should be.’
Pleased by the sight—worthy of a future hero—I nodded in satisfaction and extended my staff.
Another blue circle appeared under Lee Seulbi’s feet and began expanding.
‘Even without the mark, I can still interfere.’
For an artillery mage, not being able to focus on casting and having to keep moving around was stressful in itself.
And on top of that, I shouted urgently,
“You need to get out of there, hurry!”
“......You’re seriously unbelievable. You’re the one who cast it.”
“If you stay there, you’re in real trouble!”
“......”
Lee Seulbi seemed to decide to ignore me.
She’d just confirmed that the [Pulverize Zone] from before wasn’t as threatening as she’d feared.
If this one was the same, then she’d calculated she could probably tank it with defensive spells like barriers and armor.
As she kept chanting, waves formed, swelled, and grew larger.
KWA-AAAAA—!
Then they surged forward and swallowed up the flame spells whole.
Hong Yeonhwa answered without the slightest concern, casually sweeping their staff, and the flames blazed even harder, slowly pushing the waves back.
“......”
Lee Seulbi was losing more and more of the already nonexistent breathing room she had.
And I kept offering a few more encouraging words.
“I’m telling you, get out of there! This one’s different from before—if it hits, it’s really going to hurt!”
“I’m not falling for it, so stop.”
“If this hits you like this, it’s seriously a one-shot!”
I’d set the area narrower and the duration longer, so the power had gone up dramatically.
I was doing this out of pure concern.
Even so, Lee Seulbi didn’t budge.
“I’m seriously ignoring you now.”
With a clear do whatever you want attitude, she kept trading bombardments with Hong Yeonhwa.
And then, at some point—
KWA-BOOOOOOOM—!
Under the crushing pressure dropping down on her, she turned into Flat Seulbi on the spot.
[Lee Seulbi -%]
“I told you it was a one-shot.”
All she had to do was move a few steps to the side. Was that really so much trouble?
It made me realize once again that trust was the most important thing in human relationships.
[Kim Ho Hong Yeonhwa Win]
Vs
[Song Cheonhye Lee Seulbi Lose]
I glanced over the scoreboard, then praised Hong Yeonhwa, who came running over.
“Good work. Our teamwork was smooth.”
“No, you did everything......”
“Everything? You were our firepower lead.”
“That...... is true, but......”
“Have some pride. Shall we head out now?”
“......Yeah!”
Hong Yeonhwa took the lead with a happy expression, trotting ahead.
But when we got right in front of the teleportation circle, they suddenly spun around, faced me straight on, and spoke.
“I worked hard, right?”
“You sure did.”
“Then do I get to receive a consolation pri—Hyaaaak!”
Looks like that damned side effect kicked in again while they were off guard.
Hong Yeonhwa’s face crumpled in misery, like all that good mood from a second ago had never existed.
“I-I think I need to go in for today......”
Looks like they were planning to lock themselves in their dorm room until the potion wore off.
They turned away again and headed for the teleportation circle like they were running off.
So I strode ahead and blocked Hong Yeonhwa’s path.
“Why do you keep running away?”
“B-Because...... I’m embarrassed......”
“Even if you’re going to go, you should at least get your consolation prize first.”
“......!?”
Hong Yeonhwa’s eyes went wide.
I stepped closer and lightly kissed their cheek.
Then I grinned and asked,
“Makes you think getting hit with side effects once in a while isn’t so bad, right?”
“Uh......? Uh? Uuh......”
Hong Yeonhwa answered blankly, like they couldn’t quite process what had just happened.
But as the seconds passed, they gradually seemed to come back to themselves—and their face turned redder and redder in proportion.
And I kept talking.
“If you want to, just say it honestly. Like you did earlier.”
“......!”
“I said this before too, but it’s not a competition. It’s not like you’re lacking anything compared to the others.”
I’d said that in front of Father-in-law and Mother-in-law No. 3 with full conviction, so I intended to keep standing by it.
Hong Yeonhwa’s face turned deeply moved, and they slowly nodded.
“Yeah......!”
“And help promote the potion too. All kinds of things happened, sure, but in the end, didn’t everything work out?”
They’d accumulated a year’s worth of black-mark memories in a few hours, but in return their rank had gone up, and their relationship with me had advanced another step.
Hong Yeonhwa must have thought the same, because they answered readily.
“Okay, I’ll talk to the captain......!”
If the Ruby Mage Tower moved, word of mouth would spread fast.
At this point, I’d more than repaid Shin Byeongcheol in loyalty.
After leaving the arena, Hong Yeonhwa headed to the Ruby Mage Tower clubroom.
They said they’d give the captain a heads-up, then go rest in the dorm.
Things had gone well, sure, but it looked like they had no desire to accumulate any more black-mark memories.
In any case, I couldn’t keep pairing with Hong Yeonhwa.
‘Because I’ve got the Super-Duper Challenge active.’
▷Condition 2: Must proceed with different teammates each time
‘Who should I ask to go with me?’
One match would be easy enough if I took Seo Ye-in.
For another, should I ask Go Hyeonwoo or Han Somi?
I was just about to send a message while thinking that, when I felt a gaze flying in and sticking to me from somewhere.
When I turned my head, there they were after all—Song Cheonhye and Lee Seulbi.
Maybe because they’d gotten crushed so hard in the very first match, their morale didn’t just hit bottom—it looked like it had punched straight through it.
Displaying good sportsmanship, I spoke first.
“You both did great.”
“......You too.”
Song Cheonhye was visibly sulking, but she still answered back.
Then she glared at me and asked,
“Where’s Hong Yeonhwa?”
“They left.”
“......Left?”
“Yeah. Said they were done for today.”
“And what about you?”
“I’m trying to find someone new. At least for one match.”
“......”
Song Cheonhye’s eyebrows twitched upward with interest.
But then she remembered that I’d chosen Hong Yeonhwa first, and maybe the bitterness from getting beaten up just now came back too, because she snapped her head away.
“Good luck finding someone. There are plenty of people who’d want to pair up with you.”
“I was going to ask you.”
Song Cheonhye started to turn back toward me, suddenly interested again, then whipped her head right back to where it had been.
“......I’m good, thanks.”
Looks like chestnut-burr hedgehog mode had activated.
At that, Lee Seulbi, who’d been watching, quietly whispered to Song Cheonhye in a calm voice.
Whether she did it on purpose or not, it was loud enough for me to hear every word.
“Go do one match with him. I’ll wait. I can pair with Geum Johan.”
“No, I don’t want to go with that person......”
“You wanted to. You kept asking earlier whether you’d be okay.”
“That was only if a slot opened up......”
“Didn’t one just open?”
“The situation now is......”
“It doesn’t look that different to me.”
“......”
Song Cheonhye opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again.
Apparently she thought it did make sense once she heard it put that way.
And Lee Seulbi kept talking her down in that same calm voice.
“If you keep stubbornly protecting your pride, you’ll regret it later. Just go in with him once.”
“......Fine.”
Song Cheonhye agreed with an attitude that screamed she was only doing it because she had no choice.
But when she looked at me, there was also a faint trace of anticipation.
“Then do one match with me, pair.”
