Chapter 38
Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Spear vs. Spear
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Hieeek!”
“Oh my.”
Da-hee and Yu-jin freaked out upon checking the bracket.
“Ha, of all people, I end up facing Ha Kyung-su in the first round?”
“Exactly. Jae-hyeok’s in big trouble, isn’t he?”
Even Do-jin, who usually ribbed them for their exaggerated reactions, nodded in agreement this time.
“That’s weird. In freshman duel evaluations, matchups like this usually don’t happen.”
Among freshmen, Class A was practically invincible.
Having entered with leveled-up stats, they overwhelmingly surpassed other classes in both stats and experience.
That’s why, for the first one or two months after freshman duel evaluations began, the brackets were predictably fixed. Class A only matched against other Class A students.
Yet Jae-hyeok was up against Ha Kyung-su from Class A right from the start.
“Maybe because he awakened his bloodline skill and shone in the Leech King raid?”
“Even so, this crosses the line! Raids and duels are totally different!”
Low-level monsters tended to follow fixed patterns.
Players, on the other hand, schemed their best moves in real time.
Moreover, Ha Kyung-su had entered at level 23.
He was at least level 25 now, with considerable experience accumulated.
“Ha Kyung-su’s a spear user from North Hamgyong Province to begin with.”
“Ha... North Hamgyong, spear... Don’t tell me he’s the son of Spear Lord Ha Jung-ak?”
“Bingo. His personality sucks, but his spear skills are top-notch.”
“That’s gonna be tough.”
Do-jin scratched his head with an awkward expression.
Even he, who had been beaten senseless and now acknowledged Jae-hyeok’s skills, thought Jae-hyeok was at a disadvantage this time.
Historically, spears were a hard counter to swords.
Jae-hyeok was an unusual case who mainly used quick draw.
He lacked the charging power to deflect the rapid thrusts and sweeps of Ha Kyung-su’s long spear and close the distance.
“But hey.”
Jae-hyeok, who had been blankly watching the three of them, raised a genuine question.
“Why are you all just spectating from across the river? Stop worrying about me and analyze your own duel opponents.”
“We’re all in Class A anyway, so it’s a pure skill fight. We know each other well, and our levels are similar.”
“Exactly. This is the time to worry about Jae-hyeok! Let’s brainstorm ways to take down Ha Kyung-su together!”
“Geez.”
Jae-hyeok felt a strange sensation.
Was this the first time anyone besides Butler Hwang had worried about him this much?
His chest tickled.
This unfamiliar feeling somehow felt nostalgic, and it wasn’t bad.
“It’s fine.”
Hoping the kids wouldn’t worry too much,
“I’m not a swordsman, so I won’t get countered.”
Jae-hyeok confessed honestly.
“Huh?”
“Puhaha! He’s at it again. Swordsman denial concept this time?”
Da-hee tilted her head in disbelief, while Yu-jin clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.
Do-jin shot up from his seat and grabbed a long spear from the weapon rack.
“Who doesn’t know you’re not a swordsman but a spear user? Spears or swords, they’re both disadvantaged against spears! I’ll show you—come at me! I’ll train you hard!”
“...You look like you’ve never held a spear before. And ‘spear master’ sounds too lame.”
***
“It’s been a while since the stands filled up for a simple duel evaluation.”
“There are a lot of promising kids in this year’s freshmen.”
The freshmen’s first duel evaluation was a long-standing tradition opened to the public.
Representatives from various organizations attended as observers.
Of course, the most important virtue for a player was hiding one’s full strength.
Especially avoiding exposure of one’s first skill.
Rashly revealing full power in front of people could lead to weaknesses being exploited in a critical moment, a matter of life and death.
But freshmen were fledglings who had just become players.
They had years of growth ahead.
Their current strength was merely the starting point of what they would show later.
“Hah!”
Whoosh!
The first duel evaluation.
Students full of spirit unleashed their powers freely.
Jang Ho-jin from Class A was no exception.
Duels would continue throughout the year ahead.
The rewards for achieving the highest possible rankings in quarterly tallies were substantial.
For Class A, the first semester was a chance to rack up enough points.
Everyone knew that as time passed, students from other classes would grow and close the gap with Class A.
Boom!!
Each time Jang Ho-jin swung his sword, flames poured out, shattering and incinerating the stage.
An enchanter who enhanced weapons’ power and imbued attributes.
Among them, one specialized in offensive power boosts via fire attributes was quite rare. Many spectators showed interest in his talent.
But Jang Ho-jin’s opponent happened to be freshman Cha-seok.
Each time she thrust her thin rapier, the flames flickered and lost momentum as if about to extinguish.
“A wind manipulation skill?”
“No, she’s stabbing the exact points that suppress the flames’ spread. That girl’s a monster.”
Sword genius Chae Da-hee.
Contrary to her small, cute appearance, her true nature was that of a beast.
With innate insight, she pinpointed her opponent’s weaknesses.
Her lightning-fast rapier thrusts always weakened the enemy’s power or struck vital points.
“Damn...!”
Magic engineering weapons couldn’t inflict serious injury on the human body.
However, they didn’t block the impact felt upon being hit.
Jang Ho-jin, stabbed in five vital points in an instant, rolled his eyes back and collapsed.
“Is this all Korea’s future amounts to?”
An even more overwhelming scene unfolded on stage 3.
Loren, Austria’s National Treasure candidate.
Covered head to toe in bone armor, he merely swung his hands from his spot.
“N-No way...”
The girl, bound limbs by bone hands rising from the floor, surrendered upon seeing Loren’s unscratched main armor. Her expression was one of lost will, as if her soul had fled.
“How boring. Not a place for Do-jin.”
“Overwhelming without even summoning familiars.”
“Europe is a battlefield. Young Awakeners are frequently thrown into wars. That child, who awakened a bloodline skill two years ago, must far surpass student level.”
The spectators’ expressions grew complicated as they watched Loren descend the stage.
Korea maintained relatively good relations with European nations, but during [World Quests] or [World Boss Raids], competition was inevitable.
They felt great fear at Loren’s potential.
The only consolation was...
“Woooaaah!!”
The overwhelming performances by the young retainers of House Silla,
“Silla Kyung! Silla Kyung! Silla Kyung!”
And the fact that their lord, Silla Kyung, was in no way inferior to Loren.
Even if House Silla alone was impressive, Korea still couldn’t match China or Japan... but it was at least a spark of hope.
“Korea's era when Yaksha was active was impressive. All three ducal houses’ heads had awakened bloodline skills, and even a divine like Seol Su-ah appeared.”
“Indeed, an unprecedented golden age. Yet they couldn’t claim hegemony in East Asia, which was despairing. If Yaksha had remained active just 20 more years...”
Representatives from major guilds, unconcerned with the association’s watchful eyes, openly lamented Yaksha.
The reason they suddenly missed Yaksha was the black-haired boy who had just stepped onto stage 5.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
The only child of Yaksha’s to awaken a bloodline skill.
Even without one, Kang Dae-seong and Kang Hyeon-ah had overwhelmed peers; inheriting even half their father’s talent would be worth betting on.
Alongside Silla Kyung, history’s greatest genius of House Silla, he would lead the nation’s future.
Provided his personality was normal, that is.
“They matched him with Class A considering he has a bloodline skill.”
“That Ha Kyung-su kid... he’s Spear Lord’s son. Top tier in Class A.”
“Of all things, a spear user. With the level gap, Kang Jae-hyeok’s at a disadvantage.”
“Kang Jae-hyeok, fighting!!”
Ignoring the heavy atmosphere around him, Baek Do-jin shouted loudly.
His booming voice, like he’d swallowed a train whistle, served as the signal.
Everyone in the arena turned to stage 5.
And they were dumbfounded.
“...What’s he doing?”
“I can’t read his intent.”
Kang Jae-hyeok had chosen a long spear as his weapon.
“Are you insane?”
Ha Kyung-su, facing him, voiced the spectators’ thoughts.
“A swordsman picking a spear? Against me, the Spear Lord’s son?”
Slowly removing his gold-rimmed glasses and tucking them into his shirt pocket, he ground his teeth.
“If you intend to insult me, I’ll kill you.”
“Geez.”
Jae-hyeok expertly gripped the spear shaft with both hands and assumed a stance.
“Who’s the bastard spreading rumors that I’m a swordsman?”
“That’s...!”
A group in the stands shot to their feet.
The Ha household retainers who had come to cheer Ha Kyung-su’s debut.
True to their spear arts lineage, they recognized it at a glance.
“Don’t let your guard down, Young Master!”
“He’s proficient in spear arts!!”
The warnings were meaningless.
Boom!
Before they could reach him, Jae-hyeok’s swung spear had already smashed down on Ha Kyung-su’s shoulder.
“Urk!”
Reflexively bending his knee, Ha Kyung-su clearly witnessed it.
The spear shaft, rebounding with elasticity, drew a spiral on recovery—then reverse-spun.
The spear halted upright in midair like a lie, then shot forward like a beam of light, piercing his chest.
The smash and thrust linked as if one technique.
Truly wondrous spear arts.