Chapter 42: Promotion Match (5)

At Yang Woobin’s utterly terrible first strike, Choi Ingyu was momentarily stunned. 

He had been so nervous and trembling in fear when facing Yang Woobin, but now that he was actually facing him, he couldn’t even make the shield budge. 

However, the momentary relaxation didn’t last long. Choi Ingyu quickly tightened his focus, thinking that this first strike might be a trick to induce carelessness, and he concentrated fully on defense. 

“Taeyangjinmugyeom! Taeyangdaegum! Taeyanghansongeom! Taeyangssanggeom! Taeyangjochunggon! Taeyangslashaxe! Taeyangchargeaxe!! Ah— I wasn’t planning to use this either! Curse your unnecessarily solid shield! Taeyangjinmugyeom finisher! Taeyangchammoabege!!!”

“Clang clang! Ka-ka-ka-kaang! Ka-ka-ka-kaang! Clang clang clang!”

“……”

But as Yang Woobin’s Taeyangjinmugyeom continued, and as he poured out strange techniques with names like “finisher”and “Taeyang this and that,”Choi Ingyu’s tension gradually eased. 

Since the match had started, he had only been blocking, and he hadn’t felt a single shock or pressure. 

‘What’s going on? This is nothing like the rumors I heard. Why is this guy so weak?’

The Yang Woobin in front of Choi Ingyu, still swinging his sword earnestly, was purely weak. 

His sword strikes only made a few scratches on the shield, and did no real damage to Choi Ingyu. 

“Hah, hah… You bastard, huh, the shield’s not bad though?”

Ironically, it was Choi Ingyu, the one attacking, who was getting more exhausted. 

With his utterly pathetic and typical bully-like behavior, Choi Ingyu’s mind was in a state of confusion. 

Then, in the midst of his confusion, a hypothesis suddenly formed in his brain. 

‘Maybe the real power lies with Fuyuno Tsubaki, who defeated Han Yujin earlier, and this guy is just a loudmouth pretending to be important?’ 

Choi Ingyu was well aware of the relationship between Yang Woobin and Fuyuno Tsubaki, thanks to information provided by his sources. 

The two were inseparable, and Yang Woobin even cooked and fed Fuyuno Tsubaki herself. 

This information gave weight to the hypothesis, and the fact that Yang Woobin’s dozens of sword strikes only left a few scratches on the shield seemed to prove this hypothesis was true. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. The rumor that Fuyuno Tsubaki was bullied in the regular group because she was abandoned due to a lack of talent was all malicious slander.”

“How could a monster who crushed Han Yujin with just a few gestures be bullied in a regular group? It’s clearly just a rumor spread by someone full of inferiority complex.”

“The real power is Fuyuno Tsubaki.”

With this hypothesis formed, the puzzle pieces seemed to click into place, and the doubts started to clear up. 

“What’s this? Saying ‘I never thought I’d use this here,’ and ‘Look closely,’ and ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ but it’s just pathetic?”

“Did that guy apply for a promotion match? He challenged a Jincheon cadet? Ha, men are always like this. They’re spoiled at home and never learn to know their place.”

“They say he’s the heir to the Yang family, but if he’s the heir… Pff, the Yang family’s standards are pretty clear.”

“Taeyangjinmugyeom, the sword technique of a family with a perfect record! This nonsense. Is this what the family with the perfect record uses? Can this family even be called a noble family? Pff…” 

Additionally, the mocking murmurs of the Jincheon cadets from behind Choi Ingyu’s back gave him the strength he needed. 

“Yeah, that bastard’s trash. He’s just a talentless insect who fooled a woman with his pretty face! I shouldn’t have been so nervous!”

With the convincing hypothesis he had formed in his head, Yang Woobin’s pathetic Taeyangjinmugyeom, and the encouragement (?) from the Jincheon the cadets behind him, Choi Ingyu finally found the courage. 

The courage that blossomed in his chest gave him the will to attack, after having been on defense the entire time. 

“Phew, alright! There’s no choice now! This is the ultimate move of Taeyangjinmugyeom! Here I go! Taeyangchammoabege!!!”

With an improvised, ultimate-sounding move, Taeyangchammoabege surged toward Choi Ingyu’s shield. 

The rough trajectory of the sword looked threatening at first glance, but he knew it was empty inside. 

Thus, confidently facing the ultimate move, Taeyangchammoabege, Choi Ingyu unleashed his own unique technique, the “Shield Slam,”which had turned him into a Jincheon cadet. 

“Hah!”

Clang—!!! Snap!

“What?!”

While receiving the attack, Choi Ingyu released the mana he had gathered behind his shield at the moment the opponent’s strike hit, pushing the shield out and unleashing it.

This was the useful technique known as ‘Shield Slam,’ a must-learn skill for any superhuman who uses a shield. 

In response to this perfect counter, Yang Woobin’s two swords couldn’t withstand the shock and shattered completely. 

The pieces of metal that had made up the swords scattered like broken glass, leaving only the clumsy sword hilts in Yang Woobin’s hands.

He looked alternately at the hilt of the pair of swords he held and at Choi Ingyu with wide eyes. 

His expression resembled that of a fool who couldn’t accept reality even though he was facing it, and Choi Ingyu lowered his shield while raising the corner of his mouth. 

“Is it over? Now it’s my turn…” 

“First strike, you bastard!”

Wham! 

Looking at the disarmed opponent, Choi Ingyu was about to proceed with his original plan: making a grimacing face, teabagging, and giving him a lesson in manners.

However, before he could even start, Yang Woobin’s large fist, which came into the open space as soon as the shield was lowered, interrupted. 

“Grrk?!” 

His weapon was shattered, but the moment the shield lowered, Yang Woobin unhesitatingly threw his punch. 

The action seemed as if Yang Woobin didn’t care at all about his weapon, and Choi Ingyu’s head spun from this strange behavior. 

But, being a capable Jincheon cadet, even if ranked 100th, Choi Ingyu quickly shook off the dizziness and refocused on Yang Woobin. 

But Yang Woobin, with a cocky smirk, pointed his finger at his nose. 

“…?”

It didn’t seem like he had any intention to attack immediately, but since he could change tactics and punch at any moment, Choi Ingyu hid his body behind the shield and subtly touched his nose. 

“Uh? Nosebleed?!”

He then realized that a single punch had caused his nose to bleed. 

“It’s not just a nosebleed, it’s a double nosebleed. Honestly, if you got a double nosebleed in a one-on-one fight, doesn’t that mean you lost?”

“What… What is that…”

“Hehe, fighting with a double nosebleed just looks pathetic. Just surrender. It’ll be easier for you.”

“Huh…” 

Yang Woobin’s cocky words and expression, as if he thought the promotion match was just child’s play, left Choi Ingyu speechless. 

But the speechlessness was short-lived. 

In this situation, where the weakling still provoked him despite being so outclassed, Choi Ingyu broke through his speechlessness with rising anger and roughly declared to Yang Woobin, who had mocked him. 

“You worthless third-rate punk! I’ll tell you about your place from now on!!!”

It was a declaration of a real lesson. 

With his shield held tightly, Choi Ingyu concentrated mana into his lower body for reinforcement and, with a strong push off the ground, rushed towards Yang Woobin. 

Whoosh! 

The rush, powered by the endurance and training of a Jincheon cadet after surviving countless incidents over the past month and a half, was surprisingly powerful for a 100th-ranked cadet. 

Since the distance wasn’t great and the charge from his reinforced lower body was fast, it didn’t take long for Choi Ingyu to reach Yang Woobin. 

Rumble rumble!

*“I’ll just push you over and crush you!!!”* 

A rush filled with the full power of his body and mana, driven by the determination to crush his opponent. 

Facing this charge, Yang Woobin sighed as if tired. 

“Guess this will definitely leave a strong first impression.”

“?”

After muttering something incomprehensible to Choi Ingyu, he lightly pulled back his right fist, preparing it. 

As he pulled back his fist, it accelerated through his ankle, knee, waist, shoulder, and elbow joints, extending towards Choi Ingyu’s shield. 

For someone facing a full-force shield charge from a superhuman, Yang Woobin’s extended punch was, without a doubt, ordinary. 

“Openings!”

But as Yang Woobin threw his punch, he muttered something strange. 

Thud!

His punch pierced the shield, which had only been scratched by countless sword strikes, as if breaking a wooden board, and— 

*BOOM—!!!* 

Following the explosion, Choi Ingyu, who had been behind his shield, was swept up and hurled backward, crashing into the wall.

As that happened, everyone in the arena fell into stunned silence. 

He hadn’t been able to do anything with two swords, yet he pierced a shield and knocked his opponent out with a single punch? 

Unable to make sense of it, all eyes turned to Yang Woobin. 

Meeting all those gazes directed at him, Yang Woobin curled one corner of his mouth like a punk and opened his mouth. 

“Did you see that?! That’s the power of the Solar True Martial Sword, you bastards! Don’t mess with me from now on!”

The thing was, it was his first day meeting any of them, so no one had messed with him to begin with, nor even had a proper conversation.

And despite doing absolutely nothing with the so-called Solar True Martial Sword—his swords had broken and he ended the match with a punch—he was acting like the sword had won the fight.

To anyone watching, Yang Woobin clearly seemed like a strange one. 

And just like that, to the cadets of the Jincheon class, his first impression was set: 

“I have no idea what that guy’s deal is, but I’d rather not get close to him.”

Yang Woobin, promoted to Jincheon class!!!

※ 

“Captain, that guy’s the new recruit who just joined the Exploding Dragon squad. We still don’t really know what his deal is, but if he had to struggle that much just to beat someone like Choi Ingyu, then I don’t think there’s any real need for the Disciplinary Committee to monitor him closely…” 

“No. Woobin—I mean, Cadet Yang Woobin—I’ll be monitoring him personally from now on.”

“…Huh? You’re going to do it yourself, Captain? Why would you, of all people, go that far for some weird and absurd guy like that…?”

“Watch your mouth. What do you know about him to go calling him weird or absurd?”

“S-sorry, ma’am.” 

“In any case, just keep that in mind. Pass it on to the other Disciplinary Committee members as well. I’ll be taking charge of Cadet Yang Woobin.”

“…Yes, ma’am.” 

In the stands of the coliseum, within the special spectator section reserved for the Disciplinary Committee officers, the captain of the committee covered her mouth with her hand under the pretense of resting her chin—and subtly raised the corner of her lips in a smile. 

“Woobin, you ridiculous little thing. I’ve finally found you…”

It was the day Jin Sejeong, current Disciplinary Committee Captain of Daecheon Academy, used her authority for the very first time—for entirely personal reasons.