Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: First Lightning Dodge
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“Puhaha!”
Baek Do-jin clutched his stomach and laughed.
“Kuhahaha!”
Dah-hee stared at him pitifully as he rolled on the floor in hysterics.
“You like it that much?”
“Of course! I beat that No Jun-yeop jerk! Just yesterday he was talking big about who’d give in first, and now look at him—tucking tail and running away!”
Thunderclap Reaction Training.
To those on the receiving end, it wasn’t training—it was torture.
Lightning torment that surpassed even electric shocks.
Even Baek Do-jin, the mad dog who wouldn’t yield to anything, now flinched at the mere sound of a toilet flushing these days. The water swirling down sounded just like thunder.
Chae Dah-hee’s situation was much the same.
She possessed talent and grit enough to claim a freshman top seat, yet even she couldn’t adapt to the Thunderclap Reaction Training.
For one thing, it hurt too damn much physically.
The instant the lightning struck, it felt like your skin peeled off entirely and your organs and brain fried.
Even chugging potions nonstop to recover couldn’t prevent the mental damage.
-This training’s all about dodging it in the first place. Just avoid getting hit, and you’re good.
Jae-hyeok’s nonchalant attitude only shook their resolve further.
-You guys are definitely improving. It’s just that the lightning’s faster and stronger now, so it’s hard to feel the progress.
He tried to console them in his own way, but it didn’t help one bit.
Why had Jae-hyeok’s summoned lightning grown faster and stronger?
Obviously, because Kang Jae-hyeok himself had gotten stronger.
A skill’s power usually scaled with its user’s stats.
In other words.
‘Even if we ever manage to dodge that lightning someday…’
‘If Jae-hyeok gets even stronger, we’re totally screwed!’
Now she understood why No Jun-yeop had run.
‘I should bail right now, too.’
Do-jin began inching backward stealthily.
He’d already won the bet with No Jun-yeop, so he felt justified in skipping the torture.
Reacting to the lightning’s speed would hone your focus, insight, reflexes, and maybe even grant lightning resistance if you got lucky?
Plus, it’d build courage so you wouldn’t flinch using Flash Step?
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Baek Do-jin suddenly flipped out and turned to flee.
“What an idiot.”
Jae-hyeok clicked his tongue.
It was absurd seeing the guy who’d been cackling happily moments ago turn pale and bolt.
His mental state was highly questionable.
“You guys should be grateful to me.”
Thunderclap Reaction Training was the dream workout for every player in the world.
And Jae-hyeok’s team and Archery Club members even got free potions.
“Shouldn’t you be serving me as a lifelong benefactor instead of running?”
Infuriated, Jae-hyeok gritted his teeth and chased Do-jin while deploying his skill.
“Uwaaaak!”
Do-jin shrieked in horror and activated Flash Step.
“...!”
“...!”
Jae-hyeok and everyone else in the training area widened their eyes.
Crackle! Zzzzap!
The remnants of the thunderclap scattered with a final dying screech.
The ground between Jae-hyeok and Do-jin was scorched black.
A lightning strike’s aftermath.
“He dodged it! He dodged!”
Dah-hee screamed it almost like a cry.
The Archery Club members cheered and clapped.
Baek Do-jin.
The boy who’d shown nothing but shortcomings since joining the Archery Club.
Low-leveled for a second-year, he’d struggled to contribute in any real way—yet he’d dodged that godforsaken lightning first, ahead of everyone.
The unexpected twist had the crowd in a frenzy.
“H-Huh?”
Baek Do-jin himself looked dazed.
He couldn’t believe the result he’d created.
“You did great. Really.”
“...!”
Only after hearing Jae-hyeok’s praise did he.
Accept the sight before his eyes as real.
“I... I did it!!”
A bright smile spread across his usually venomous face.
Like a wolf pup turning into a puppy.
Recalling the pain and frustration of the past few days’ lightning torture, his red eyes welled up.
“I did iiiiiit!!”
Do-jin roared, unable to contain his surging euphoria.
The Archery Club members watched the purely joyful boy with warm fondness.
They remembered how he’d been just as thrilled the first time he’d hit a target with an arrow.
‘He was genuinely happy back then, too. He took archery seriously.’
‘Though it’s shocking he was still that bad despite trying.’
Do-jin hadn’t looked down on the bow.
His talent was just poor. He’d clearly given his all when learning archery.
The subtle misunderstanding cleared up, and affection bloomed naturally.
“Amazing! Dodging that demon’s skill!”
“Yeah, Baek Do-jin! You’re the best!”
A harmonious atmosphere bloomed for the first time in ages.
The Archery Club members tossed Do-jin into the air.
‘Isn’t he flying too high...?’
Maybe because he was so small and light.
Dah-hee watched anxiously as he soared toward the ceiling.
Do-jin, meanwhile, giggled delightedly.
‘It’s the first time.’
Baek Do-jin’s eyes grew redder.
The experience of coming out ahead of others.
A first in the boy’s life.
As a child, he’d always lagged behind Loren’s talent. After enrolling at Lion’s Castle, Flash Step had held him back from surpassing his peers.
Dodging Jae-hyeok’s thunderclap first—before anyone else—filled him with unimaginable emotion and drive.
‘Flash Step, huh.’
Jae-hyeok’s expression as he watched Do-jin was peculiar.
Frankly speaking.
Do-jin dodging the thunderclap just now was 90% luck.
The timing of his desperate Flash Step to escape perfectly overlapped with Jae-hyeok activating the skill—pure coincidence.
But luck was skill, too.
Without Flash Step’s capabilities, he couldn’t have hoped for that fluke.
‘He definitely dodged.’
Do-jin hadn’t reacted to the thunderclap itself, but his Flash Step had evaded it—that much was fact.
Meaning his speed hadn’t fallen short.
A skill that leaped through space.
‘Now I get why no one’s ever mastered Flash Step.’
Its performance was overwhelmingly superior.
No wonder normal methods and talent couldn’t control it.
‘Keep at it.’
“Kyak!”
Toward Baek Do-jin plummeting down like a frog that’d bashed its head on the ceiling.
‘Remember—you can be the best.’
Jae-hyeok sent sincere encouragement.
***
“He’s not in the dorms either?”
No Jun-yeop had been missing all day.
At first, they thought he’d bailed to skip the torture... er, training. But something felt off.
They’d searched every possible spot, and there wasn’t a trace.
“No outing records either.”
“Did he head to a danger zone or something?”
“That guy who’s always whining one-dealers can’t solo? Solo by himself? Doubt it.”
Just a few weeks ago.
The Archery Club members wouldn’t have cared if No Jun-yeop vanished.
Some might’ve even celebrated.
But the Archery Club now was different.
After weathering several incidents and bonding, more members naturally worried about him.
Comradeship—or friendship, as you might call it.
Crunch.
Jang Yeon-ju bit down on her candy absentmindedly.
Watching her clubmates discuss countermeasures for the missing No Jun-yeop, her body tensed up without realizing.
‘No Jun-yeop should see this.’
Who could’ve imagined we’d change like this?
At least, not me, the one involved.
Her seniors probably hadn’t either.
She could still picture her seniors’ worried faces when No Jun-yeop took over as club president.
‘Good thing.’
Now she had something to brag about when they returned.
Honey practically dripped from Jang Yeon-ju’s eyes as she gazed at Jae-hyeok.
“L-Look at this!”
One club member came rushing in, out of breath.
A paper soaked in blood was clutched in his hand.
-We’ll be keeping your club president for a while.
The message on the paper was concise.
But it clearly conveyed that No Jun-yeop had been ‘kidnapped.’
The unexpected development sent the stunned Archery Club into an uproar.
“The president’s me? When did I get kidnapped? Wrong recipient or what?”
Do-jin cocked his head, utterly baffled.
“I’m going to bed.”
Hae-rin, who’d been dozing off since training ended, stood up as the clock hit 10.
“L-Let’s, let’s go rescue him right now!”
Dah-hee drew her sword.
The slim blade trembled in her small hands.
Tense, as if the blood had sparked grim imaginings.
“Report to the student council first and investigate the sender...”
Jang Yeon-ju issued orders to the members, her voice fierce.
She was furious that a student kidnapping had occurred on campus.
“It’s chicken blood.”
Jae-hyeok’s single remark calmed the mood.
His expression was bored as he examined the bloodied paper.
“H-How do you know? Circumstantially, it’s gotta be Jun-yeop sunbae’s blood!”
Chae Dah-hee reacted with disbelief.
Not just her—everyone present felt the same.
“If Kang Jae-hyeok says so, then it is.”
“Sleepy.”
Ah, excluding Baek Do-jin and Park Hae-rin.
Jae-hyeok explained.
“Back home, people often vandalized our walls with chicken or pig blood. I’ve cleaned it up tons of times, so I can tell.”
“......”
Do-jin straightened up, and Hae-rin quietly sat in her chair.
Jae-hyeok’s abruptly revealed past weighed too heavily; everyone fell silent.
Jae-hyeok lightened the mood.
“Anyway, No Jun-yeop’s fine. The kidnappers won’t want things escalating either.”
If No Jun-yeop’s position mirrored his own, he’d take it seriously.
But this case was entirely different.
‘They figure blocking No Jun-yeop’s activity will drop our ranking, right?’
Jae-hyeok had insight into the incident’s background.
“Let’s get to work. No slacking off on sleep today.”
Dozens of request forms arrived for the Archery Club, gripped in his mischievous grin.
The next afternoon.
“…What? The Archery Club earned even more money?”
“No Jun-yeop’s gone—how? Wasn’t the Archery Club a one-man No Jun-yeop show?”
The Noble club exploded upon checking the club earnings rankings.
No Jun-yeop, limbs tightly bound, watched the scene with a blank stare.