A Little Gift for You: Deprivation
A mysterious ability born from the Thief Synergy that didn't exist in the game's main story: <May the Ancestors Bless and Protect>. I had no idea exactly what the message about seizing control of spirit power meant, but this wasn't the first time the tooltip had reacted to my situation with advice. Maybe this new power could be the breakthrough in this shitty mess.
-Fwoosh!
The fibers forming the Banner of Courage shifted on their own, wrapping around my left hand. They reformed into gloves, but drastically different from before. Just as the threads comprising the gloves had been absorbed into the banner to amplify its power earlier, now the banner merged into the gloves, altering their shape.
"What an eyesore. So your last card is just Mourning Clothes reinforcement?"
Seo Jeon-jeom gazed down at me, filthy with dust, his eyes cooling with disinterest. But I couldn't care less.
-Crunch.
The fibers formed thumb-less mittens on my left hand. As I clenched my fist, a sharp hook protruded from the center of the glove. It looked just like the pirate hook hand from a fairy tale—perfectly optimized for snatching things away. The form suited the name of the power dwelling within the fibers perfectly.
<Deprive.>
The next instant, a mystical voice flowed from Gemma's lips. Her eyes were dazed, unfocused, as if entranced or dreaming.
<From the unworthy, deprive.>
"......"
It wasn't Gemma's voice. An invisible law possessing immense authority was commanding me through the spirit's mouth.
<Deprive!>
It was screaming for me to rip away the power Seo Jeon-jeom had unjustly stolen!
"Soul Overlap."
Soul Overlap
-Thump.
I recited the activation word, and my heart pounded fiercely. My body, not my mind, instinctively understood this power and how to wield it. My skin began tinting brown. My heightened brain flooded with adrenaline.
-Fwoosh!
Spirit-power flames ignited the hook. The two overlapped souls connected in series, and the released power began to swell.
"Wanna go all the way to the end, huh?"
Seo Jeon-jeom snapped his fingers from his bizarre throne of phantoms, unleashing another massive bird assault.
-Whiiiiiish!!!
A falcon flying at a third of the speed of sound. Its horrific speed matched by its monstrous size and weight. The flying siege engine tucked its wings, extending razor-sharp talons toward me.
"Not taking this lying down."
-Flash!
Consumption accelerated, but instantaneous output doubled. I activated Spirit Descent and charged; the scenery on either side blurred past like arrows. Faster than when I'd enhanced my body with Shin Sua's courtesan spirit power.
"Ngh."
Soul Overlap was my trump card, saved for this duel where I'd need Passepartout multiple times. Spirit power depletion doubled in speed, but I had no choice.
"Going for a head-on clash?"
I didn't run. I locked eyes with the arrowing falcon and charged full throttle.
"Kim Taeyang!!"
Shin Sua's cry urging me to retreat. I wanted to toss a lame joke to reassure her, but no time. Acrid blood surged up my throat. Even I knew this was reckless. Spirit power drain was too much; I'd only used it briefly twice against mid-tier vengeful spirits and Yeom Jin-gwan. Once it ran dry, I'd puke blood and collapse.
But refusing to struggle to the end—
"I'd feel bad for Shin Sua!"
-Flash-flash-flash!!
The black monster skimmed the ground precariously, gliding low. Talons pulled back, wings spread wide—it was clear it intended to smash me directly, not snatch.
-Screeeee!
In the extended instant of expanded senses and awareness, the falcon's beak gaped, belting a horrific screech to end the long reprieve.
"It's over."
Seo Jeon-jeom declared.
"Yeah. Time to end it."
I shot back.
-Crunch.
The moment before collision. I poured all my strength into my ankles and kicked off the ground.
-Flash!
I leaped to eye level with Seo Jeon-jeom atop the falcon, swinging my left hook embodying Deprivation at him.
"Knew you'd do that."
-Krrrrsh!!!
Phantoms erupted from the falcon's back, blocking my path. Like they wouldn't tolerate an attempt to assassinate the king's bloodline. Phantoms densely surrounded Seo Jeon-jeom.
"Good try, but your reads were off."
He smirked, as if he'd predicted everything.
-Whoosh!
The falcon halted flight. Six pairs of arms sprouted from its body, seizing my legs to halt my momentum.
"Then let's finish this game."
-Groooowl.
"Advisor..."
Melting phantoms gathered below his elbow, forming a massive fist.
"9-dan."
He slowly raised the fist. The giant's hand of immense spirit power targeted me. With my legs pinned, dodging was impossible.
So—
"My turn ain't over yet."
Couldn't just sit there.
"Deprive."
I dropped low and slammed the hook into the falcon's back.
-Crack!
Confirming the sharp tip pierced the clustered phantom, I yanked the hook with all my might.
-Rip!
Instead of phantom flesh tearing free, the hook pierced a translucent clump of paper. Like a reaper's scythe harvesting a soul.
"No way—"
-Crunch.
The ground beneath Seo Jeon-jeom's fist crumbled.
-Rumble!
The fist and falcon collapsed. What I'd hooked away was the 'control' itself—the very authority that let him freely wield the absorbed spirit power and ancestor power as Go stones.
When a reversal built on stolen power lost control, it naturally crumbled.
-Plop-plop!
Phantoms scattered from the Go stones, dumping me and Seo Jeon-jeom unceremoniously to the floor. Soul Overlap released simultaneously.
"Kuhk...!"
Blood poured from my mouth and nose as I lay prone. Far worse than the divine sickness from Jang Han-nam's first class. The aftereffects were dire; spirit power depleted at an incomparable pace—I couldn't even twitch a finger.
"Don't think you've won already!"
Unlike me, Seo Jeon-jeom sprang up, resetting his stance. Phantoms floated back into the air. He still had that much left? Me and Shin Sua were both critically wounded. One or two phantoms dropped overhead would end it in explosions.
No way left to turn this around.
"Partner, that enough for you?"
Right. Not for me.
"...I'll praise you. Just for today."
Shin Sua, propping up her torso, pointed her brush at Seo Jeon-jeom.
"Landscape painting... Bamboo Grove."
As she weakly finished, ink erupted from the scattered Go stones around him.
-Flash-flash!!
Dozens of bamboo stalks pierced Seo Jeon-jeom's body—Shin Sua's spirit power. With his control gone, she could freely reclaim the absorbed spirit and ancestor power.
"......!"
Seo Jeon-jeom couldn't react to the ambush. He just glared, eyes bulging.
-Clink.
The mirror on his wrist shattered, signaling the attack's lethality.
-Thud.
He collapsed.
"Winners: Shin Sua, Kim Taeyang!"
"Wooooooooo!!!"
The judge's voice faded. Cheers erupted. Deep relief washed over me as consciousness floated away like a cut string.
* * *
"Whoa..."
Baek Yu-min gaped, forgetting to cheer, savoring the reversal's afterglow. Shin Sua and her partner Kim Taeyang had exceeded expectations, toppling the second-year vice-top.
The duel ended, and the stadium's localized time-reversal restored broken walls, floors, and participants' bodies. But Baek Yu-min stomped excitedly, unable to hide her thrill.
"Impressive, right? This year's freshmen."
Baek Je-in calmly stroked the head of Baek Yu-min, who flapped her mouth wordlessly. But the girl's heightened emotions showed no sign of calming. The laid-back Hawaiian surfer girl, living carefree—now an unquenchable fire ignited the unknown potential in her heart.
A light of admiration lit her eyes. The energy awaiting direction now surged powerfully, awakening a power never bloomed before.
-Flash!
The white flower in her hair doubled in size, and feather-shaped lights fluttered down from above her head.
"Yu-min?"
Baek Je-in blinked repeatedly, peering into the beaming, oblivious Baek Yu-min's eyes.
* * *
"They actually won..."
Kim Yun-ju, arriving post-duel start and sitting by Mun Hee-jeong, laughed in disbelief. Beside them, U Hyo-chung stood cheering. Normally annoying, but with most spectators chanting Kim Taeyang and Shin Sua's names, it blended in.
"I told you, sis."
Mun Hee-jeong slumped in her seat, legs limp.
"Taeyang would win. Over and over."
She chided Kim Yun-ju softly, dissatisfied. Still gripping her uniform skirt tight—tension from Kim Taeyang's peril lingered.
"Pfft, Shin Sua did all the work."
Kim Yun-ju joked, earning a poke in the ribs from Mun Hee-jeong's index finger.
"Ow, fine, drop it."
"Gotta hit the bathroom..."
Mun Hee-jeong pouted at Kim Yun-ju, then staggered up.
"Ah, too good. For real."
Driving me crazy. She muttered nonstop, hurrying to the farthest restroom from the stands.
"Whew."
Inside, confirming no one else, she activated Spirit Lord Transformation to lock the door.
Last night, Mun Hee-jeong decided: if Kim Taeyang won, send a congratulatory gift. One no boy his age could refuse.
"Taeyang said he likes me too..."
A mix of taboo thrill and pleasure. She donned the latex suit she'd brought.
"Perfect!"
Posing before the mirror, admiring her figure, she fired up her smartphone camera.
-Click!
-Click!
Provocative poses, angling to highlight her body but hide her face.
"Oh god, what now..."
Her heart raced with shame and excitement. Her first time doing this. Expressing feelings this way.
"Hope Taeyang likes it..."
Kim Taeyang paying for her department store buys proved he took her confession seriously. Sending provocative pics to celebrate his win? Easy for the guy she loved.
For Mun Hee-jeong, whose brain was pickled in 19+ doujins, this was just 'a bit bold' affection.
"Send...!"
She tapped Kim Taeyang's pre-added contact in the anonymous chat app and sent the photos.
Done in under three minutes, she casually changed back into her uniform and exited with a neutral face.
By now, a text urging him to install the app should arrive on Kim Taeyang's phone. He'd see the pics, freak out. Examine closely, realize it was her.
After all that, how would Kim Taeyang look at her?
"Haaa..."
Expectations ballooning, thrilling fantasies buzzing, Mun Hee-jeong returned to her seat with a happy smile.