04. The Way You Look at Me (3)

Since my group was number 8, I still had some time left, so I went up to the second floor to watch the matches.

I scanned the audience seats, noticing a few unfamiliar faces, but Ryu-shin-nim was nowhere to be seen, as if he was deliberately avoiding me. Ha-yul-yang, being scheduled for the second match, had already gone down.

Apart from the next two groups waiting in the passage leading to the arena, all the other students were seated above, creating a pleasantly boisterous atmosphere.

“We will now begin the duel between John Layark of Class A and Jang Ga-eun of Class K. The duel will end immediately if either of them shouts ‘Surrender.’ Even if they sustain injuries, the duel can continue if it is determined that there is no significant impediment to their movement. However, if it is observed that one party is continuing to attack with the deliberate intent to harm the other’s body, we will intervene and stop the match.”

As the professor finished speaking, I saw a foreign-looking male student and a female student with light green hair walking towards opposite ends of the large circular arena.

“Begin.”

Ppiiiiiiik!

The moment the whistle blew, John started running at an incredible speed, using the power of a physical-type Awakened as his base.

Green is usually the hair color of mages who control the wind attribute. Wind utilizes the surrounding atmosphere, so the time it takes to activate the ability is short, but it has the disadvantage of being relatively weaker than other attributes.

John Layark probably knew this characteristic and seemed to be aiming to overwhelm Jang Ga-eun with powerful destructive force to end the match quickly.

The width from one end of the arena to the other was about 300m.

John Layark continued to accelerate over that distance, which could be considered quite far, breaking through with a force that seemed like he would smash through a wall.

If they collided like that, even an Awakened would have at least one limb torn off.

Nevertheless, Jang Ga-eun stood in her place without moving an inch.

Had she frozen up in panic? Seeing her standing there with her eyes closed, not taking any action, Professor Siana was about to jump down from the audience to intervene when the professor in charge of Class K next to her stopped her and said,

“Just watch for 3 seconds… no, 4 seconds more. Jang Ga-eun has something prepared.”

At that moment, wind quietly began to bloom from her toes.

The expression ‘blooming’ was not an exaggeration. The air that began to wrap around her ankles elegantly slowly rose, and at some point, it enveloped Jang Ga-eun’s entire body, making a tearing friction sound.

Compared to what I saw last time, the completion was crude, but the form was undoubtedly the Armor of Wind, Boreas.

Peong!

John’s fist, which had converted all the terrifying speed into destructive power, struck Boreas, and with a tremendous explosion, John momentarily stepped back.

She had not yet reached the level of completely dominating the surrounding atmosphere, but she used the wind generated by his punch as material for her armor, absorbing even the impact.

The common attribute of physical Awakened and wind attribute Awakened is formidable speed.

In a confrontation where a tight balance could be broken if one hesitated even for a moment, stepping back first led to only one conclusion.

As if not to miss the moment, Jang Ga-eun reached out and created a spear of wind, immediately firing it at him.

The biggest advantage of Boreas is that attack and defense are integrated.

As the spear of air, compressed dozens, hundreds of times, vibrated and rushed towards him, John hurriedly rolled to dodge, but having lost the initiative due to the relentless attacks, he was soon cornered.

“…Surrender.”

A match ended in less than a minute.

It felt like a speed battle to some extent, but even so, Jang Ga-eun’s ability seemed quite skillful for a newly enrolled Awakened.

After the battle, the two students entered the waiting room to treat any internal injuries they might have sustained, and soon two people walked out from the passage leading to the arena.

“Lee Ha-yul of Class A and Kim Jeong-rae of Class K, prepare for the duel… Begin.”

Unlike Ha-yul-yang, who wore a confident smile, the male student called Kim Jeong-rae threw something he was holding into the air with a very unsure expression.

A sharp metal weapon in the shape of a sword-type shuriken rose into the sky and soon began to float around him.

“He’s a telekinetic type too.”

“There’s a reason why he looks so grim. The compatibility seems almost the worst?”

Sang-ho, who was watching the match next to me, said with pity.

Usually, telekinetic ability users are quite vulnerable in one-on-one battles, so they carry a weapon that allows them to fight while keeping their distance.

The larger or heavier the weapon, the more their physical abilities decrease, so they mainly use light weapons like daggers, but unfortunately, he met the wrong opponent today.

“Yeah. Once she starts spewing fire…”

Metal weapons are, after all, vulnerable to heat.

Whether it’s tungsten or a super heat-resistant alloy, it can only be reduced to scrap metal in front of the ultra-high heat flames created by an Awakened, losing its original function.

In this situation, the only way he can win is to approach and subdue the opponent with his weapon before their ability warms up, but in a duel situation that is not a real battle and takes place 300m apart, the future only holds the melting down of the weapon before it can even properly cut the opponent.

And as expected, the result ended with Ha-yul-yang’s easy victory.

While appropriately accepting Ha-yul-yang’s complaints that she couldn’t properly show what she had prepared, I watched a few more matches before it was my turn.

As I went down the passage leading to the arena, I saw Ryu-shin-nim waiting there, as if he had been waiting for me.

It was Ryu-shin-nim’s words that broke the suffocating silence of the long corridor.

“Do your best. I won’t go easy on you.”

His eyes, bloodshot and shining in the darkness, were fixed on me.

Receiving his intense gaze, which I couldn’t tell whether it was competitiveness or jealousy, I could only nod and answer, forgetting what I wanted to say.

After all the matches before us were finished, I walked to one corner of the vast arena according to the signal.

It looked really big from above, but it’s freaking huge when you see it directly from here.

“Lee Ji-hoo of Class A, Go Ryu-shin of Class A. Prepare for the duel.”

I put on the equipment I had prepared in advance.

It wouldn’t be good to reveal the Critical Shield now, so I took it off and instead put on white gloves that clung tightly to my hands.

These are medium gloves made of special material to help telekinetic abilities be transmitted more easily.

Just a moment ago, my head was complicated by the thought that I had to fight the protagonist of the original work, but now that the match was about to begin, my mind became calm.

No matter how the match turns out, I just need to show what I can show and cleanly accept the result.

“Begin.”

At the same time as the start, Ryu-shin-nim rushes towards me.

The same attack as John Layark’s earlier, a textbook movement to target telekinetic users who are vulnerable at close range.

With a speed that seems even faster than when I fell to get the Hidden Piece, I barely came to my senses and rolled to avoid the attack.

The advantage of high speed is that it carries that much destructive power, but the risk of missing is very high compared to that.

I send compressed shockwaves to Go Ryu-shin-gun, who drastically decelerates to reduce damage before crashing into the wall after passing me, and create distance.

Although the shockwaves don’t have great offensive power, he probably realized to some extent that he shouldn’t just rush in anymore, feeling like his brain was shaking from being hit head-on.

But as time passes, I become increasingly disadvantaged.

As this war of attrition continues, no matter how much distance I create, he will eventually catch up to me, and the moment I allow close combat, it’s almost the same as losing.

In the end, the only way was to inflict damage on him little by little, looking for a suitable opportunity, and then send him off with a finishing blow when he was somewhat damaged.

Soon, he rushed in again.

If the previous attack was a violent movement like an excited elephant, this time it’s a smoother but much sharper movement of a beast.

I barely managed to escape for a few minutes with the propulsion gained by sending shockwaves backwards, but eventually, he grabbed my head.

“Hoo, you shouldn’t be careless just because you caught me.”

But there was still a chance.

Seeing his arms stretched out to grab me, with his center of gravity leaning forward, I stomped both feet into his stomach.

Because I sent shockwaves while stomping, he probably feels like his insides are twisted.

“Ugh…”

I guess that did quite a bit of damage?

I started running in the opposite direction, panting heavily, but before I could create any distance, he approached me little by little again, leading his injured body.

I tried to stop his movement by urgently sending shockwaves, but suddenly the part where he grabbed my head throbbed, and I momentarily lost focus.

Ah, damn it.

Something must have gone wrong the moment he grabbed my head earlier.

The moment the explosively released endorphins stopped being secreted, my legs lost strength, and I collapsed.

I felt like my head was ringing inside and my vision was spinning, and I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Heok, heok… Lee Ji-hoo… I won.”

Go Ryu-shin-gun knelt down and tried to reach out his arm to lift me up, who was lying face down and unable to move.

Seeing his face, distorted with a grim smile as if he had finally won after accumulating stress, in my blurry vision, I could no longer delay the boiling feeling.

Screw it, I don’t know either.

It seems like the time has come to use the technique I’ve been practicing for a week.

I grabbed his arm, which was reaching out to help me up, and pulled it towards me.

The technique I’m about to use is a technique called ‘Big Bang,’ named after a special move from a certain game.

I draw out the energy that has been impressed from deep within my chest and start vibrating my body rapidly.

Clenching my teeth and gathering strength, Go Ryu-shin-gun’s arm, which is firmly grasped in my hand, also gradually resonates with my vibration.

“I’m not going alone, absolutely not…!”

My insides feel like they’re being torn apart, not just shaking, from the tremendous frequency.

Go Ryu-shin-gun next to me is probably feeling the same sensation.

I don’t know why I suddenly wanted to make it impossible for him to win, even going to such lengths.

I just… felt like if I gave Go Ryu-shin-gun the victory now, I wouldn’t be able to follow him anymore.

Hearing Professor Siana-nim rushing over, I slowly lost consciousness.

---

I open my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

I tried to lift my head, but even moving it slightly made my joints scream, so I immediately gave up.

“Ugh…. I’m gonna die, damn it…”

It seems like some facility inside the school.

Turning my head as far as my joints would allow, I saw curtains, blankets, and pillows all covered in white.

From the faint smell of alcohol and potion, I soon realized that this was the infirmary.

At that moment, I heard the sound of the curtain opening, and a silver-haired woman peeked out.

Her face, which doesn’t even properly distinguish her age, and that playful expression… could it be…

“Oh, Ji-hoo-gun, you caused a big accident from your first duel!”

She was none other than the headmaster of this academy, Sanya Dominas.

Why the hell are you here?

I tried to lift my trembling waist to somehow greet her, but she quickly laid me back down on the bed and said,

“Uh-huh~ Patients shouldn’t get up~”

“Thank you.”

The headmaster was already holding my hand tightly, erasing her mischievous expression and wearing a benevolent face.

“Ji-hoo-gun, I know you wanted to win, but wasn’t that too dangerous a technique?”

“…That’s true, but I don’t think I could have done otherwise at that time.”

No.

Rather, now that I’ve come to my senses, I’m very regretful about using the technique, but my mouth uttered words that had nothing to do with my will.

“Do you know what kind of ability I have?”

“Isn’t it sound waves?”

“Yes, that’s right~ Looking at your admission documents, Ji-hoo-gun also has a similar type of ability. If it’s okay with you, Ji-hoo-gun, how about learning from me separately for a few hours a week in the future?”

The conversation is developing in a completely unexpected direction.

I was taken aback by the sudden proposal, but it would be foolish to refuse such an offer.

It was also a good opportunity to observe her, whom I had originally targeted, from a closer distance.

“If it’s okay with you, Headmaster-nim, I’d be happy to.”

“Okay, then come to the headmaster’s office around 6 PM on Friday. Oh, and someone has been waiting outside the infirmary since earlier. Is it your girlfriend?”

Girlfriend, you say? Is it Ha-yul-yang?

Even though I’ve been targeting her, she still chose me over her childhood friend… I’m a little touched.

As the headmaster left the infirmary, I heard the sound of her talking to someone.

The voice is too small to hear well… I should pretend to be asleep under the blanket and surprise them.

Ttokgak Ttokgak.

Someone entered the infirmary with the sound of shoes, and as I heard the sound of the curtain being drawn back, I threw off the blanket, opened my eyes wide, and shouted.

“Waaaaah! ….Ah?”

“Lee Ji-hoo, I told you to go eat lunch.”

It wasn’t Ha-yul-yang who came to see me, but

It was Yoo Seol-ah sunbae-nim, who ignored even my scream with a blank face.

Ah, I shouldn’t have played around.