Geum Johan got hit by a whole pile of [Fickle Trap]s.
Unfortunately for him, unlike Fast-Luckless, he wasn’t immortal.
The gear he had bought with Golden Lotus money was fairly sturdy in its own right, but it still wasn’t enough to endure Lucky Charm luck.
[Kim Ho Seo Ye-in Win]
vs
[Geum Johan Lee Seulbi Lose]
‘We did win, but.’
Was that really the right way to do it?
As I stood there staring at the scoreboard with mixed feelings, Sloth and Fast-Luckless strode over like triumphant generals returning from victory.
“Guaranteed-win strategy.”
— Victory through strategy.
At that, I deliberately got a little petty.
“I don’t know. Wouldn’t you call that more a victory of items than strategy?”
— How you use items matters too.
“Right tool, right place.”
— Besides, we didn’t even use Fluffy.
“Extremely relaxed.”
When the two of them joined forces, they really did become this good at talking.
Their logic was fairly solid too, so I gave a light nod.
“I’ll admit you used them well. But that’s not the only problem.”
“?”
— ?
“How do you scam people like it’s part of your daily routine? It’s always containment, trap setup, containment, trap setup. Doesn’t it ever get old?”
At that, the two Seo Ye-ins looked at each other, then quoted a certain famous soccer player.
“It doesn’t.”
— Every time, it feels new.
“Every moment is new.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
Soon the two of them came even closer and looked up at me.
“We did well.”
— You didn’t have to lift a finger.
“Praise.”
— Immediately.
The original goal—checking how much Seo Ye-in had improved—had ended up feeling kind of vague.
She hadn’t even exchanged several rounds with the Discipline Committee.
‘So it’s hard to establish a clean formula of Seo Ye-in = 2 * Discipline Committee member.’
Still, it wasn’t like I had ever set a condition that she had to trade blows head-on in the first place.
And winning two-against-one was encouraging enough as it was.
So I let out a small laugh and said,
“Yeah, good work, both of you. Thanks to you, it was an easy win.”
“We did well.”
“Of course you did.”
— Then you should treat us well.
“And how exactly would you like me to do that?”
At that, Sloth and Fast-Luckless kept their eyes shining as they spoke in turns.
“Wish ticket.”
— It’s been quite a while.
“Entertainment district.”
— Time to go.
“Just the two of us.”
— Three with me included.
That, too, was a perfectly valid point.
It had been all the way back in winter break that I’d given her the wish ticket, and it had already been several weeks since I’d promised to go to the entertainment district with “just the two of us.”
It made sense that she would start pressing the issue by now.
“Then this weekend or next weekend? How does that sound?”
“Good.”
— Good.
After setting a date with the two Seo Ye-ins like that,
I checked the notification message that had just arrived.
Sub Quest: Week 4–5 PvP
▷Objective: Win 3 PvP matches (3/3 wins)
▷Condition 1: Number of locks increased from 3 → 10
▷Condition 2: Must proceed with different teammates
▷Reward: Shared Trait Slot +1, Fixed Pin
‘That’s a very Super-Duper reward.’
Since the conditions had been so vicious, the reward was on the level of midterms or finals.
‘Should I use the Fixed Pin first?’
▷Copy - Skill [4/4]
I had used the Fixed Pins I got recently on [Dipper-Shifting Star-Transposition] and [Pulverize Zone], which had left me room to overwrite skill slots flexibly.
If it became truly urgent, I was even willing to send away [Ice Wall].
On the other hand, the things registered in the trait slots were mostly S-rank, and their utility was also extremely high.
Rather than agonizing later over what to give up when a new trait worth copying appeared, it was smarter to lock one in ahead of time.
‘The candidates are [Déjà Vu] or [Time Resistance].’
The other two were traits only I used alone, whereas those two could be shared with everyone through [Bond].
‘There’s no urgent need for time measures.’
It wasn’t like I was going to be trading blows with the Witch of Death, the Dark Dragon Lord, or Earth Eater anytime soon.
And even if, by some chance, something like that did happen, I could just use [Octopus Arms] + [Grant].
‘Unless we enter a time-related dungeon.’
In that case, since the clear time would be longer than [Grant]’s duration, I would absolutely have to share it through [Bond].
But most of those dungeons were A-rank or higher, so there was no way we’d be going into one anytime soon.
‘Then by process of elimination, it has to be [Déjà Vu].’
Even if the odds were low, it would always contribute to our combat power.
[You use ‘Fixed Pin’.]
[You fix ‘Déjà Vu(S)’.]
▷Copy - Trait [4/4]
▷[Déjà Vu(S)]
Next was the additional shared-trait slot from the expanded [Bond] sharing.
I had just fixed [Déjà Vu], but even so, it ranked a bit lower on the priority list.
Seo Ye-in’s [Time Oblivion] still hadn’t risen enough in rank yet either, so that was out.
So what took priority?
[You register ‘Elemental Resistance(S)’ to the slot.]
▷Shared Traits [4/4]
In a way, it was a trait I should have shared first.
It was something I had copied from dragons, after all. Elemental attacks below a certain threshold either dealt no damage at all or were greatly reduced even when they hit.
‘I got excellent use out of it against Hong Yeonhwa.’
I had let their fire magic hit me without the slightest concern and caused all kinds of misunderstandings.
No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than a message from the person in question flew in.
[Hong Yeonhwa:(startled puppy emoji)]
[Hong Yeonhwa:What?]
[Hong Yeonhwa:Elemental Resistance?]
Naturally, the people linked through [Bond] would have received a notification message saying it had been registered.
For reference, Dang Gyu-young was also busily sending fox emojis.
I explained casually.
[Kim Ho:I’ve had it for a while.]
[Kim Ho:Since I got another slot.]
[Hong Yeonhwa:Ah.]
[Kim Ho:Do you remember first year?]
[Kim Ho:The placement test.]
Then, after a brief pause, the reply came back.
[Hong Yeonhwa:Ah.]
[Hong Yeonhwa:Ah......!]
[Hong Yeonhwa:(realizing puppy emoji)]
[Hong Yeonhwa:(shocked puppy emoji)]
Back then, Hong Yeonhwa had bombarded me with fire magic one after another, and I had simply stood there blankly and let all of it hit me.
Without losing even 1% of my health.
People had done nothing but speculate about what kind of trick I had used.
Now, at long last, that mystery had been solved.
[Kim Ho:I’m only telling you now.]
[Kim Ho:Sorry about that.]
[Kim Ho:(bowing puppy emoji)]
[Hong Yeonhwa:It’s okay......!]
[Hong Yeonhwa:It’s a trait, so you had to hide it.]
In a world like this, keeping your specs concealed whenever possible was just common sense, so they didn’t seem to feel betrayed.
And it had happened a long time ago too.
I added one more line on top of that.
[Kim Ho:You could probably break through it now.]
[Hong Yeonhwa:Really......?]
[Kim Ho:With your skill, you definitely can.]
A fair number of Hong Yeonhwa’s main offensive spells had already reached A-rank.
Also, some traits started acquiring a “piercing” effect after growing to a certain extent.
[Aqua Flame] was like that too.
From that point on, just as I could use [Move Command] to push through forced-movement resistance, fire magic could also damage opponents who had even S-rank [Elemental Resistance].
[Kim Ho:You just have to hit me.]
[Hong Yeonhwa:Ah.]
[Hong Yeonhwa:Ah.......]
[Hong Yeonhwa:(dejected puppy emoji)]
Unfortunately, it seemed they had realized it.
That the placement test had been the first and last time I had ever openly stood there and let their attacks hit me.
That after that, [Elemental Resistance] or not, they had never once managed to land a clean hit.
And that from here on out, it would only get harder.......
‘Of course, that’s only if the opponent is me.’
If they faced someone who mainly used elemental-type skills?
Just like I had done, they’d be able to trust in overwhelming resistance and trade in deeply unfair exchanges.
For example......
‘Song Cheonhye.’
*****
Separate from the sharing of [Elemental Resistance],
Hong Yeonhwa and the Ruby Mage Tower publicized [T.E.B - 001] thoroughly.
In less than a few days, rumors had spread across all of Dragonslayer Academy.
In the classroom, in the student cafeteria, while walking the roads—if you listened in, you heard potion talk without fail.
— It raises ranks?
— It’s random, and apparently there’s a success rate too. Our captain’s didn’t go up.
— Our captain passed, and one of the seniors took it instead. It went up. They’ve been bragging nonstop about hitting A-rank.
— What does T.E.B even stand for?
— ......F-Fur Blanket? Deserter?
— Get out.
— Stop blurting random nonsense.
— I heard it has side effects?
— I think it causes some kind of regression to infancy.
— Our captain was practically wailing like the sky was falling. I thought somebody had died.
— I guess there’s a lot of individual variation.
— Still, doesn’t it seem worth trying? If it goes up, that’s huge.
— Should I try to get one too?
— Go ahead. See whether you can or not.
— Why are you being so cynical?
— It’s not as easy as it sounds. Pretty much all the ones released this time were already snapped up, and what’s left is all expensive.
— I could spend...... maybe 5,000 points.
— Not even close. It already blew past 8,000.
— ......It’s that expensive?
— It’ll probably break 10,000 soon.
— Who made it?
— If anyone knew that, they wouldn’t be having such a hard time getting one.
— There has to be a source.
— They say the guy selling it is smart. Nobody can catch him.
I tilted my coffee cup and listened to conversations like that, then tossed a remark to the person sitting across from me.
“Business seems to be booming these days.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started.”
Shin Byeongcheol answered with a hearty laugh.
Still grinning all over, he continued.
“To be honest, I was nervous, but I guess you talked to Hong Yeonhwa pretty well?”
“I talked to them well.”
And got a kiss in while I was at it.
Naturally, Shin Byeongcheol had no way of knowing the details.
“Thanks to that, things are going smoothly. We’re definitely out of the financial hole now.”
“If you’re that grateful, hand over one more.”
“That’s...... a little difficult. But when we make 002, I’ll give you a little heads-up.”
So he was already keeping the next product in mind.
From the start, 001 had a built-in restriction of one use per person, which meant it came with a built-in shelf life too.
Even I couldn’t take any more.
“You’ll prepare 002 in generous quantities, of course? As you know, we have a lot of mouths to feed.”
“Even I can’t promise that.”
“If you hand over two again and call it a day, our friendship may be placed in grave danger.”
“Come on, this time we couldn’t help it. It was the first run. And for 002, we’ll have to see how our, uh, business partners handle things too.”
Then again, it did feel a little early right now.
It wasn’t something they could just mass-produce because people wanted it.
“If things go well, I can look forward to it, right?”
“I’ll try, seriously. If I have it, why wouldn’t I give it to you?”
“Excellent.”
I nodded and kept questioning him.
“So when are you making 002?”
“After 001 sells out?”
“So you did hold some back.”
“You don’t release everything all at once.”
As if he’d never do something that amateurish, Shin Byeongcheol flashed a grin.
“You’re planning to leave them wanting more?”
“Exactly! You really do understand business.”
According to him, the number of potions produced was in the double digits.
Compared to that, the number of Dragonslayer Academy students easily ran into the hundreds.
It was like placing one bottle of fresh water in the middle of a blazing desert.
And even then, whether you poured out the whole bottle at once or dripped it out a few drops at a time would send its value soaring to the heavens.
Shin Byeongcheol lowered his voice and started again in a more suggestive tone.
“We’re going to release more again soon.”
“And?”
“I’m thinking of taking a bit of a risk.”
“The thing I’m thinking of?”
“That’s the one.”
He was planning to try selling to the Alchemy Club, and to the Discipline Committee.
