Lee Seulbi left, saying they were going to call Geum Johan.
Song Cheonhye and I scanned our student IDs at the terminal.
[Kim Ho 924 points Song Cheonhye 804 points]
“......”
“......”
We stood there staring at the arena for quite a while, but there was still no sign of a match being found.
There weren’t that many possible opponents to begin with.
At this point, 900 points was the absolute top tier, and even across the entire grade, only a tiny handful would qualify.
Last year’s prospects, the Discipline Committee, and a few especially strong students. That was probably it.
And it’s not like everyone goes all out from day one.
This PvP period lasted a full two weeks, so instead of trying to finish early like us, plenty of people might be prioritizing club activities or personal business first.
Or, because the annoying [Lock] rule was in play, there were probably people who wanted to watch replays and see how other students fought before deciding anything.
And some of them are probably in matches right now too.
Once you subtracted this and that and then subtracted some more, maybe there’d be a handful left.
A minor downside of being at the very top.
After waiting a little longer, I casually said to Song Cheonhye,
“It’s not finding one.”
“......Looks like it.”
“Maybe today just isn’t the day.”
“Try being patient. We’ve waited this long already. It should match us soon.”
She lightly scolded me, but a little more anxiety was starting to show on her face.
She probably thought that if this kept up, our pair might fall through altogether.
There was also a decent chance she thought I might go call Hong Yeonhwa back.
I hadn’t mentioned the Super-Duper Challenge to her separately, after all.
“......”
The longer the wait dragged on, the more Song Cheonhye’s unease grew.
She kept glancing back and forth between the arena and me, scraping the innocent floor with the tip of her shoe.
I understood the psychology, but we couldn’t just stand around like this forever.
So I slowly turned around and said,
“This won’t do.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the campus store. I’m getting a cup of coffee.”
Song Cheonhye immediately moved up beside me.
In a tone that said this was the most natural thing in the world, she said,
“I’m going too.”
“Why are you?”
“Because I’m your pair.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to follow me around. Since it’s come to this, maybe we should just disband the pair~”
“......!”
Song Cheonhye looked momentarily speechless.
She seemed to desperately rev up her brain to find something to say, then opened her mouth with a very matter-of-fact expression.
“I think it’s important to have a sense of responsibility in everything. Once you’ve formed a pair, shouldn’t you at least do one match together?”
“Hard to say. That sounds right, but it also kind of doesn’t.”
“I-I sent Seulbi away because I was going with you.”
Back when it was Try your best to find one, and As if, now she was acting like we absolutely had to do this together.
I slowly nodded.
“Sending Lee Seulbi away was because of me.”
“Right? Let’s get coffee, then wait again.”
Song Cheonhye looked visibly relieved.
Before long, we headed to the campus store and bought a drink each, sipping them little by little.
I got a normal coffee.
Song Cheonhye got a strawberry shake piled high with whipped cream.
“......”
She’d been in low spirits after getting thoroughly smashed in the first match, but once she got some sugar in her system, she seemed noticeably recovered.
She sipped at the strawberry shake again and asked,
“So what was up with Hong Yeonhwa? They were seriously weird today.”
I hesitated for a moment over whether to tell her, then decided it wouldn’t matter.
According to Shin Byeongcheol, they were going to publicize it openly anyway.
It was only a matter of time before the Discipline Committee found out.
“They drank a potion this morning.”
“......What kind of potion?”
“A new product, apparently.”
I explained the effects of [T.E.B - 001].
A random rank-up at “high probability,” one-use limit per person, and a slight side effect.
At that, an exclamation mark seemed to pop up over Song Cheonhye’s head.
“Ah......! No wonder. So that was because of the side effect.”
Then her Discipline Committee instincts must have kicked in, because she narrowed her brows.
“......Who made it?”
“No idea.”
“What about the person who handed it over?”
“Can’t tell you that.”
The more widely rumors about the potion spread, the more it benefited Shin Byeongcheol.
But there was absolutely no benefit in letting people know he and his “business partners” were the source.
That would only increase the danger for no reason.
For example, idiots might show up trying to seize the potion by unfair means.
At that, Song Cheonhye fixed me with a sharp stare and warned,
“I think you already know this, but covering for a student who broke school rules is also a violation of school rules.”
“True enough. If they actually broke school rules.”
“They distributed an item with side effects.”
“It’s not the dangerous kind, though. All it does is make you say embarrassing things.”
Since the duration was only about half a day, there was no way it would qualify as a prohibited item.
Song Cheonhye must have thought of that too, because she seemed to choke on her reply for a second.
I quietly asked on top of that,
“Be honest. If someone offered it to you, would you really not drink it?”
“Of course I wouldn’t. Saying embarrassing things in front of all those people?”
“Even if it ranks something up? At high probability, no less? For the record, Hong Yeonhwa’s actually went up.”
“......!”
Song Cheonhye’s face stiffened a little.
She’d already been slowly losing ground in the rivalry lately, and now the gap had widened even more.
I kept talking in an offhand tone.
“They’ll probably keep drinking it from here on out too. Say it works around five times out of ten. Then even if you train the same amount, they’ll still wind up that much further ahead.”
“......And they’ll also go through that many more embarrassing incidents.”
“They must’ve thought it was worth enduring. Stuff like that is hardest the first time. Later, you get used to it. That’s how I see it too.”
“......”
“You should think about it slowly too.”
After throwing that out there, I calmly finished sipping the rest of my coffee as if nothing had happened.
Song Cheonhye, on the other hand, stayed buried in thought the whole time.
If I had to guess, she was weighing it over and over in her head.
But once we finished our break and returned to the arena, Song Cheonhye’s face had gone serious again.
It looked like she’d shoved her worries off to one side for now and decided to focus on the PvP in front of her.
Seeing that, I was suddenly seized by the urge to tease her, so I raised my eyes toward the distance.
“Hm? It’s Seo Ye-in.”
“Where? Where?”
Song Cheonhye flinched in alarm, probably because she’d been worried the pair might fall through.
She looked hard in the direction I was staring.
I let the silence hang for a generous moment before tilting my head.
“Maybe not? Guess I was mistaken.”
“Stop messing with me. Seriously.”
“You need to have a sense of responsibility. Even if Seo Ye-in shows up, I’m still doing one match with you.”
“......Good. Let’s queue up.”
As if she’d never been anxious at all, Song Cheonhye immediately looked satisfied.
We scanned our student IDs at the terminal again, and though we had to wait a long time once more, our names finally appeared on the scoreboard.
[Kim Ho 924 points Song Cheonhye 804 points]
vs
[Eom Jeongtae 913 points Cha Hyeonju 657 points]
Guess there really aren’t many people.
If the average points were this far apart and it still found a match.
Just like Hong Yeonhwa, Cha Hyeonju had never been able to raise her score much because every time she ran into me, she got beaten down.
Hong Yeonhwa had at least barely managed to claw past 900, but apparently this one had narrowly failed.
Then she probably got reset to 400.
And, unfortunately for her, she’d run into me in the placement test and wound up as a flattened chihuahua.
Even so, judging by the fact that she’d finished the other two matches with 200 points and had already gained another 60 since then, I supposed she really did live up to the name of a prospect.
Now who was Eom Jeongtae again?
The name felt unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar at the same time.
I found out why the moment we entered the arena.
WHOOOOOSH—
A barren desert, faintly swept by drifting sand.
Cha Hyeonju stood across from us with a familiar-looking male student.
So that was Kang Huichan No. 2.
Kang Huichan No. 1 had been a guild-alliance sword-and-shield warrior, and back in first-year first semester, he’d paired up with Cha Hyeonju as her frontliner.
But there had been a skill gap from the start, so the point difference only widened more and more, and later No. 2 had taken that spot instead.
Honestly, from my perspective, there wasn’t much difference.
A slightly rude thing to say, maybe, but his impression had been that faint.
Still, now that I knew his name, I planned to call him Jeongtae from now on.
Meanwhile, as always, Cha Hyeonju glared at me with eyes full of killing intent.
Though somehow, she also looked pleased.
“Talk about lucky. The point gap is this huge and we still got matched.”
“Do you really think that’s luck?”
“At least I do. I was wondering when I’d get another shot at you this year.”
She must’ve wanted to show me how much she’d improved in the meantime.
I raised one eyebrow.
“Haven’t we already fought? In the placement test.”
“......What?”
“Don’t remember? Blue.”
“......?”
Cha Hyeonju blinked rapidly, apparently digging through her memory.
Then, as if she’d recalled getting crushed by “Blue” in the anonymous placement test, her face twisted like a demon’s.
“......So it was you!”
“Yep~ It was me~”
“You—goddamn—fucking—piece—of—shit—!”
The rabid chihuahua started spewing every curse in the book.
At that, Song Cheonhye frowned and stepped forward.
“That’s enough.”
“And who the hell are you to butt in?”
“Because just listening to you makes me feel like my own standards are dropping.”
“......!”
Cha Hyeonju’s eyes flashed murderously, and Song Cheonhye met her glare without backing down.
I casually tossed in a comment from the side.
“Well, look at that. Fighting for me.”
“She’s going too far. There should be a limit.”
Song Cheonhye complained with a slight furrow in her brow.
It looked like she just couldn’t stand there and watch me get cursed out.
Maybe it was that kind of mentality—if anyone was going to do it, it should be her.
Amid the tense atmosphere, both teams finished preparing for battle.
Soon, the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
THWANG-THWANG-THWANG-THWANG!
Cha Hyeonju immediately raised her bow and fired.
The firing sound wasn’t her usual creeeeeak—, so one of her related skills must have gotten hit by a [Lock].
Even so, she still had decent power, just as expected of a prospect.
THWANG-THWANG-THWANG-THWANG-THWANG!
Song Cheonhye and I immediately kicked off the ground and advanced while weaving around the rain of arrows.
At the same time, Eom Jeongtae was charging from the other side with sword and shield raised.
He still hadn’t said a single word until now, so he was probably just the taciturn type.
Once the distance had narrowed somewhat, he swung his sword.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
The incoming arrows were now mixed with sword energy, making them far more troublesome to dodge, but Song Cheonhye twisted her body skillfully and kept advancing.
Then she crashed straight into Eom Jeongtae.
BZZZZZZZT!
Lightning magic burst forth, but a large portion of it was canceled out by the shield he brought up at just the right moment.
The damage he took was very minor as well.
[Eom Jeongtae 100%]
[Eom Jeongtae 99%]
[Eom Jeongtae 99%]
Points really don’t lie.
Thinking that, I left the two of them to fight and tried to push past toward Cha Hyeonju.
Eom Jeongtae immediately {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} read my intention and stepped toward me while swinging his sword.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
Sword energy swept across the space in front of me, and while I was checked for that brief instant, more arrows came flying in again.
Cha Hyeonju added smugly,
“He’s good at holding the front line.”
I could just use ★Blink★ and be done with it.
Had she already forgotten what happened when she fought Blue?
Still, I decided to save ★Blink★ for a more dramatic moment.
A similar exchange repeated itself several more times.
[Eom Jeongtae 97%]
[Eom Jeongtae 96%]
[Eom Jeongtae 94%]
Eom Jeongtae was being pushed back, but for now he was still holding the line.
At that point, I figured the atmosphere had built up enough, so I spoke in a light tone.
“Song Cheonhye.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s do that. The thing.”
“That thing? ......Ah!”
Song Cheonhye lit up as if she’d realized what I meant.
A moment later, we exchanged faint smiles.
“You’re ready, right?”
“I’m ready.”
[Octopus Arms]
[Concussion Mark]*2
[You engrave ‘Concussion Mark(B)’ on the target.]
[Duration 00:00:09]
[Cooldown 00:59:59]
“......What?”
Cha Hyeonju’s eyes widened when she saw the notification message.
Everyone reacted like that the first time they got marked.
Ignoring whether Eom Jeongtae tried to check us with sword energy or not, we flat-out disregarded him and started sprinting straight at Cha Hyeonju.
“Hyeonju! You need to run! Hurry up and run!”
“We’re coming to catch you!”
A smile had started slipping out of the corner of Song Cheonhye’s mouth without her even realizing it.
