Chapter 60
"Jun-Hyuk is unable to fight. Sun-Woo wins," Do-Jin announced. It was my victory.
As if he had fainted for a moment, Jun-Hyuk lay flat on the floor with his eyes closed. Yet, three seconds later, he jumped back up and touched his waist as if he was genuinely confused.
"What? I thought it was disconnected, but it seems fine?"
"As long as the blessing array is operational, you absolutely can not get hurt."
“Huh? How does that make sense?” Jun-Hyuk said while picking up the strands of the snapped string scattered in the ring.
Do-Jin smirked and said, "It doesn't make sense. But there's someone who can make it make sense.”
“Oh... that's quite philosophical.”
“Anyway, next is—”
Do-Jin ignored Jun-Hyuk's drivel and resumed the practical training session. Countless students went up to the ring and completed their spar, and victory or defeat was determined.
In the midst of all this, not a single person was injured. Let alone injuries, not a single student let out any signs of pain. It was because Sung Yu-Da's blessing array offset not only the shock but also the pain.
I glanced at Sung Yu-Da's blessing array. Out of the countless blessing arrays that I had seen throughout my life, it was the most perfect blessing I had ever seen. It was so perfect that I even thought that it was beautiful.
[His skills seem to have improved compared to back then.] Legbah said bitterly.
‘Back then’ probably referred to the Holy War that took place seven years ago.
During the Holy War, Sung Yu-Da participated in, no, he took the lead in the slaughtering of the Voodoo Cult members. As an inquisitor, he took the lead in arresting innocent Voodoo Cult members and executed them if they resisted.
Eventually, he killed my father and arrested my mother, and put her in an underground prison.
I clenched my teeth so hard that my jaw muscles shuddered. But I didn’t feel that much of a desire for revenge. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that there was such an overwhelming gap between us that I was unable to muster up the desire for revenge.
Right now, I didn't have the ability to achieve revenge. In the first place, including Sung Yu-Da, every one of those damned clan members with the Blood of Purification countered my skill set.
“Next is Kim Jin-Seo and Yeo Min-Seo.”
Meanwhile, time passed by. The next battle was a confrontation between Jin-Seo, the head of the Class of Patience, and Min-Seo, the head of the Class of Kindness. It was the moment when the intensity of the practical training reached its peak.
"Jin-Seo is going to win for sure. Didn't you see that sub-ten-second battle earlier?”
"That’s enough bullshit~ Up until now, Min-Seo has never lost in a battle."
"That's because she hasn’t battled Jin-Seo before."
"Nope~ Back in middle school, Min-seo won."
The students bickered over who would obtain victory and who would suffer defeat. There was even a student who was betting money on the fight.
"Hey. Who do you think will win?” Jun-Hyuk asked with a grin.
I looked at the ring. Jin-Seo was wrapping bandages over her hand, and Min-Seo was leaning against the cage and staring at Jin-Seo with vacant eyes. Neither was armed. I was unable to guess who would win.
"I don't know. Wouldn’t Jin-Seo win?"
If I used common sense to think about it, then I believed that the probability of Jin-Seo winning was high. It was because Min-Seo didn’t particularly look like she would be good at fighting. She seemed like the type of person who had a special skillset aimed toward a battle of words rather than a battle of fists.
"I wonder... I think so too, but the rumors seem to indicate otherwise."
"What rumors?"
"Oh, you don't know? It's a famous rumor," Jun-Hyuk continued to explain.
Jin-Seo and Min-Seo were middle school alumni, and the two had a total of three spars. In all three of those spars, Min-Seo won. And she won by an overwhelming margin at that.
"Does it make sense?"
It was an unbelievable story. People who exercised and those who did not exercise had completely different physiques. Jin-Seo was the former, and Min-Seo was the latter. To hear that Jin-Seo lost to Min-Seo three times, regardless of that difference, felt unbelievable to me.
"By the way, how did they create the matchups? The matchups are very entertaining."
"I heard that the matchups were random."
"Oh? Really? It's random, but it became like this?"
Jun-Hyuk tilted his head for a long time as if he was baffled. One of his eyebrows wriggled around freely like a worm.
"...It's a little strange. It feels like they might have manipulated it."
I also had the same suspicion. The matchups had a contrived feeling to them that couldn’t be explained unless they had been manipulated.
However, Do-Jin himself had explained that the matchups were constructed randomly, and Do-Jin had a befuddled expression on his face when he looked at the matchups. Thus, it was likely to have been arranged randomly.
After thinking for a long time, Jun-Hyuk nodded as if he had just barely managed to convince himself.
“Come to think of it, there isn’t really a reason to manipulate it. Perhaps it really is a coincidence.”
It looked like he was just rambling to himself instead of saying something for me to hear, so I didn’t respond to his words.
Ding–!
Then, the gong rang.
In the ring, Jin-Seo and Min-Seo's sharp gazes crossed each other.
*
Long after the gong had rung, Jin-Seo quietly stood still while observing Min-Seo.
Min-Seo was quickly developing blessing arrays by moving her hands. Most of them were physical body enhancement blessings that were above the intermediate tier.
"Hey. Aren't you going to attack? Are you just going to watch me for three minutes?"
“...”
Min-Seo spoke provocatively toward Jin-Seo, but Jin-Seo did not respond. She didn't even draw a blessing array. She just continued staring at Min-Seo. Her goal was to aim for an opening, but no matter how hard she looked, there were no openings. To be honest, she didn’t think that she would be able to win.
In the meantime, Min-Seo completed the deployment of her blessing arrays. The light from the blessings covered Min-Seo's whole body.
"Jin-Seo, shall we make a bet? What do you think?"
Jin-Seo continued not to respond. Min-Seo continued to speak while smiling widely.
"If I lose this spar, then I'll immediately pick up a dropout form and go to the principal's office.”
It was an obvious provocation. Kim Jin-Seo did not fall for her shallow provocations. Honestly, she felt a little angry, but it was nothing compared to Jun-Hyuk's provocations.
"Instead, if I win—"
Clench.
She saw an opening. Jin-Seo clenched her teeth and rushed in toward Min-Seo. She was going to narrow the distance first, and if she saw an opportunity, then she would throw a kick at her temple. If she didn’t finish the battle in one blow, then there was no chance of her winning.
Bam.
She threw a kick with all her might, but there was no sensation of a solid impact. Min-Seo was holding off Jin-Seo's kick with one hand while laughing as if she was dealing with a child. Just like that, Min-Seo grabbed Jin-Seo's ankle and threw her lightly as if she was throwing a doll.
Bang!
"—Ugh."
Jin-Seo hit the back of her head on the cage. She felt a little dizzy.
Min-Seo slowly approached Jin-Seo with slow, leisurely steps. Jin-Seo looked up at Min-Seo with a sharp gaze.
“Just because the other students become scared shitless when you look at them like that, did you think that I would end up the same way? Why are you lying there like that? Get up. Quickly.”
Min-Seo did not launch an attack. Rather, she gently roasted Jin-Seo with her words. Jin-Seo bit her lips and managed to get up. She was so dizzy that she couldn’t maintain her balance well. There was no pain, but the shock remained.
“Aren’t you going to use a blessing?” Min-Seo asked with a forceful tone. If she used a blessing, then defeat would be all but ensured.
Right now, she had to find a way to beat Min-Seo without using a blessing and only her physical abilities. Jin-Seo shook her head to shake away her stray thoughts and got back into position. Strands of hair clung to her lips. Min-Seo grinned while looking at her pitiful state. She seemed to be laughing at her.
“You're giving me the motivation that I didn’t have.”
Jin-Seo rushed in. She wasn’t particularly aiming for an opening. It didn’t seem like there would be an opening even if she waited. Thus, she thought it would be better if she just created an opening herself. Jin-Seo, who had been running, suddenly stopped and shifted her weight to her foot. It looked like she was aiming to kick her in the temple, just like before.
"You need to learn—"
Flutter.
At that instant, Jin-Seo's body completed one rotation. Her clothes fluttered along with her body.
Smack!
She shifted all her body weight and rotational power to her elbow and then hit Min-Seo precisely on the chin. She had deceived Min-Seo by making it appear as if she was going for another kick. Just like that, Jin-Seo created an opening and stabbed Min-Seo's weak point.
"...Oh, what?”
However, Min-Seo's shock detection device did not sound. Min-Seo showed no signs of pain, even though Jin-Seo’s elbow had hit her jaw. Instead, there was a queer smile on Min-Seo’s face.
“So this a brawl. People who have trained are truly different.”
Even though it was a blow that contained all her might, there was no effect. No matter how excellent Jin-Seo’s physical ability was, the difference between a body that was enhanced using a blessing and a body that was not enhanced was tremendous. A body that was not enhanced by blessings could never beat a body that was enhanced by blessings.
"One minute has passed."
Two minutes left. Jin-Seo's mind grew impatient. If she didn’t use a blessing, then she would absolutely lose. But if she used a blessing, then she would also lose. No matter what choice she made, the fact that she would lose seemed to be inevitable.
How would she be able to win? How on earth would she be able to win? Just how...
Whenever she fought against Min-Seo, Jin-Seo felt like she was at a loss for what to do. It was like she was faced with an insurmountable, tall wall that she had no idea how to cross.
"Phew."
Jin-Seo pulled herself together. Perhaps it was because of the psychological pressure, but she was already out of breath. Although her physical ability had improved through training, her mental strength had remained stagnant. While keeping her distance, Min-Seo glanced at Jin-Seo with a calm look. Jin-Seo also glared at Min-Seo. The brutal confrontation occurred within the silence.
“What’s next? Are you going to pretend to kick, and then pretend to hit with your elbow, and then kick again? Well, that certainly would be fancy.”
Min-Seo broke the silence. There was a sense of relaxation in the way she spoke. Her tone of voice was ridiculously arrogant, as if the possibility of her losing the spar had never even crossed her mind.
Jin-Seo smirked. It almost looked like a deranged smile.
“If you lose, then you need to follow your promise to drop out.”
“You say that kind of thing only after you win–”
Even before Min-Seo finished speaking, Jin-Seo lowered her posture and rushed in again. Min-Seo calmly observed her movements.
What kind of attack would come at this time? A kick? Or perhaps she would give up on inflicting a hit and would aim for her joint instead. Either way, Min-Seo was confident that she would be able to deal with it.
Whip!
As if all her thoughts had been meaningless, Jin-Seo simply executed a normal kick. Min-Seo bowed her head and easily avoided the kick. In that instant, Min-Seo saw Jin-Seo's fingertips that passed by. Divine power was flowing from her fingertips.
"...Aha."
She was pretending to attack in order to divert Min-Seo's attention while she was secretly creating a blessing array. It was a pretty good strategy. However, it was too clumsy to deceive Min-Seo’s eyes. As if retaliating, she unleashed divine power and swiftly drew a blessing array. Then, she threw the array at the array that Jin-Seo was drawing.
Crack. Crack.
There was an eerie and sharp sound as if two disjointed cogs had been forcibly mashed together. The two blessing arrays intertwined together, and the blessing array soon began to flicker irregularly. It was a precursor of the collision phenomenon.
"This time was quite novel. I was a little surprised."
Bang–!
At the end of Min-Seo's words, there was a huge explosion. The tangled blessing arrays had finally smashed together and caused an explosion. Jin-Seo's body, caught in an explosion at close range, flew into the sky and soon fell. Her whole body hurt as if it were broken, perhaps because she landed incorrectly.
Min-Seo watched all this happen with her arms folded in a relaxed posture.
Beep–!!
Jin-Seo forcibly stood up while suppressing the wave of pain that she was suffering. But the moment she did so, the shock detection device attached to her body let out a loud noise.
"Jin-Seo is unable to fight. Min-Seo wins."
"Oh, it's over. What do they typically say? Thank you for the battle?"
While smiling at Jin-Seo, Min-Seo came down from the ring with light steps. Jin-Seo slumped on the spot while leaning back against the cage. If she didn't use a blessing, then she lacked the physical ability to win. However, if she used a blessing, Min-Seo would forcefully trigger the collision phenomenon to cause an explosion.
She would lose no matter what she did. There was no way for her to win. Jin-Seo lay there for a long time while staring blankly into the air.
"Jin-Seo. Come down. The next battle will soon take place."
Do-Jin climbed onto the ring and reached out his hand to Jin-Seo. She didn’t grab his hand and instead stood up through her own strength. Then she smiled bitterly and lowered her head.
"I'll just abstain.”
*
Jin-Seo withdrew and went straight out of the sacred training ground. Apparently, she was leaving early because she did not feel well. Thanks to that, I was able to obtain a free win, but I didn’t feel happy about it for some reason. Instead, it felt uncomfortable.
If I were to describe the spar between Min-Seo and Jin-Seo with one term, then I would describe it as ‘child’s play.’ Min-Seo played around with Jin-Seo as if she were mucking around with a toy. I felt sorry for Jin-Seo, but that was what it looked like from my perspective. In the first place, Min-Seo was freely able to use blessings, but Jin-Seo was not able to do so. It was because Min-Seo would trigger the collision phenomenon if Jin-Seo made an attempt.
Frankly, I thought it was a little unfair.
[No, it wasn't an unfair fight. Min-Seo was just able to utilize her talent properly.] Legbah retorted. I didn't nod, nor did I shake my head.
"Next, Min-Seo and Sun-Woo. Jin-Seo abstained, so the order changed. Both of you come up,” Do-Jin said with a bored voice.
I went up onto the ring with my head down. Min-Seo was staring at me from the other side with an unpleasant smile.
"What's wrong with your face? Did someone die?” Min-Seo asked. It was an obvious provocation. However, compared to Jun-Hyuk's provocations, it was nothing.
"Why do you dislike her anyway?"
"Who? Jin-Seo?"
Min-Seo leaned back against the cage and rolled her eyes as if she was lost in contemplation. After a moment of silence, Min-Seo argued, "Well... Do you need a reason to hate people? It’s not like you need a reason to like people, right? The logic is similar."
I nodded softly. That was enough of an answer.
The fact of the matter was that I wasn't really in a good position to speak to anyone about fairness. So far, I had achieved high grades, not with my own ability, but with the help of the Loa. This was the case for the evaluations, and this was also the case for the practical training sessions.
The ability to interfere with the opponent’s blessing array was Min-Seo’s talent. She took advantage of her talent, and she didn’t commit underhanded tactics. Thinking about it, rather than Min-Seo, I was the one being unfair.
Ding–!
The clear sound from the gong indicated the beginning of the spar.
"Phew."
I collected my breath. I had no intention of lecturing people over fairness at this point in time. In fact, right now, I planned to defeat Min-Seo, even if I had to be a little unfair.
Like Min-Seo said, there wasn’t a particular reason for doing so.
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